


Watch and Learn

by Ginnyrules27



Series: Watch and Learn [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Characters Watching Descendants, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Fix-It of Sorts, Movie: Descendants (2015)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 65,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginnyrules27/pseuds/Ginnyrules27
Summary: After hearing Queen Leah's attack of the daughter of Maleficent, the Blue Fairy has had it. These were children after all. There was no need to punish them with their parents. Maybe it was time to show the people of Auradon what life really was like on the Isle. (Originally posted on FF.net)
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil
Series: Watch and Learn [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995670
Comments: 27
Kudos: 196





	1. Chapter 1

"A chance to do what, Ben? Destroy us?" Queen Leah asked, outraged at the sight of seeing the daughter of the woman who cursed her child walking around the kingdom of Auradon. It had seemed as though the future king had become smitten with the purple haired witch and somehow thought that she and the other villainous children from the isle could change. "You remember don't you? The poisoned apples, the spells. Spells!"

Turing to Mal, Queen Leah seemed to grow even more outraged. "My daughter was raised by _fairies_ because of your mother's curse. So her first words, her first steps I missed it all!"

Quickly turning back to Ben, Queen Lean finished her speech. "You mustn't trust her."

If one looked closely at Mal's face, one might have noticed an apologetic look on her face. Or at least what came close to an apologetic look for someone who spent their entire life on the Isle of the Lost. She opened her mouth, to apologize for her mother's actions.

Granted, her mother wasn't completely guiltless—I mean the christening of the newborn princess was the social event of the year. King Stephen and Queen Leah invited those clods Flora, Fauna and Merrywether to the christening but her mother wasn't. The same woman who Queen Leah had referred to as 'your excellency' hadn't even warranted an invitation.

_I mean, let's not forget Mother gave them the chance to apologize before that idiot Merrywether opened her mouth,_ Mal thought, having read the royal transcript of the event. _But she doesn't get blamed for Sleeping Beauty getting cursed! No, she's one of the 'good guys'. Also, can I just point out that Mother's curse was to take place on the child's 16th birthday? She could have been raised at home!_

Before Mal could say anything though, a bright light shone through the courtyard, blinding all of them in the process. When Mal recovered her sight, she gasped at who was standing before them.

"Bibbity-bobbity," Fairy Godmother exclaimed and quickly knelt down at the sight of a woman dressed in all blue and shining golden hair.

"Blue Fairy," King Beast sighed in relief and released his wife and son from the protective hold he had on them. "To what do we owe the honor?"

The blue fairy smiled at the king and nodded her head in a return greeting. "Your majesties. I do apologize for interrupting. After all, this is family day and I have no children of my own here. However, I couldn't help but hear this young woman being attacked and no one other than Ben stepped in to assist."

"Blue Fairy," Queen Leah sighed in relief, thinking she would finally have a powerful enough ally to get those wretched children out of the school and back to the Isle where they belonged.

"Yes Queen Leah, did you have something else you'd like to say about fairies?" Blue Fairy turned to the aged queen and asked, her smile having vanished from her face. The queen frowned and flushed in part frustration and part embarrassment that the most powerful magic user in the land had heard that.

It didn't help that Fairy Godmother was now frowning at her in disappointment.

"Your majesty," the blue fairy turned back to King Beast, "have you ever looked into the conditions of the Isle you left all of the villains in the land?"

The king's silence told the blue fairy all she needed to know. "Your majesty, I do apologize for what I'm about to do."

_Although the conditions seem unwell,_

_Let us see where villains dwell_

_Though it may seem absurd_

_Heel the wound between our worlds_

Another round of bright light appeared and surrounded the whole party. When it faded, several people gasped upon seeing that they were no longer on the grounds of Auradon Prep.

"Blue Fairy!" Cinderella exclaimed. "Why have you done this?"

"It needed to be done dear," the blue fairy said calmly. "Fairy magic is powerful but it can only do so much. I happen to agree with our young prince here, that these young people should be given a second chance. It might just be necessary to show why that is important instead of telling you."

"They're villains!"

"Just like their parents!"

Mal tried her hardest to keep a straight face, to make sure that no one thought her weak or thrown by the insults. On the Isle, that's how you were raised. If you were offended by insults, then you wouldn't make a good villain.

But to see these people, these heroes, refuse to allow them a second chance….Mal wouldn't deny that it was more than a little heartbreaking to see that only Ben had faith in them. Even Lonnie, the one girl Mal thought it might be good to know on an non-wand related matter, was keeping silent.

"Wow, I'd never thought I'd see Aladdin refuse to give someone a second chance," Jay muttered as he slid up to Mal, taking his place on her left side. Evie swiftly looped her arm through Mal's right arm—Carlos taking his place on Evie's other side.

"Guys, maybe we should just sit down," Mal whispered to the group.

"Honestly, with how hostile it is, I'd rather be anywhere but here," Carlos told her. "But you know the most about fairies, after all your mom used to be one. If you think it's safe, I'll follow you Mal."

"You know I'll always be there Mal," Evie smiled at her best friend. "Just…keep me away from Snow White. Her husband's glaring at me and I'd rather not be yelled at."

"Well honestly he doesn't have a leg to stand on here," Mal told her. "If he's going to judge us for who our parents are, then I'll just judge him for kissing who he thought was dead girl."

"I love the fact you pay attention in history class," Evie smirked.

Mal returned the smirk in kind and quickly picked a cluster of seats far away from the group of so-called heroes. Evie, as always, sat to her right while the boys quickly grabbed seats behind the two. It wasn't as if they thought they couldn't protect themselves—honestly, Mal had to assume it had to do with being a little wary of the Blue Fairy.

Mal, though, couldn't help but feel relieved at the thought of another magic user other than Fairy Godmother. Fairy Godmother may have been powerful but Blue was someone on the side of good that you did not mess with.

Even her mother had said that at one time or another.

"Maybe we should all sit down," Ben suggested, noticing the actions of the Isle kids. He couldn't help but admit that it hurt, seeing them all huddled together like a group of outsiders. He wanted to go and sit next to Mal but he knew it would be a long time before his father would let him out of his sight. But the last thing he wanted was for Mal and the others to think that he was siding with Queen Leah and the others.

Locking eyes with Mal, Ben couldn't help but become relived at her slight nod. It was if she was saying 'I know' without speaking.

"An excellent idea Prince Ben," the Blue Fairy nodded and one by one the royals all began to sit down. A small frown appeared at the obvious divide between where the heroes sat and where the Isle kids.

"Let us begin," she said and quickly waved her wand at the screen.


	2. Chapter 2

The screen lit up softly as a reaction to the Blue Fairy's wand while at the same time, the lights dimmed as to allow for a more suitable and relaxing viewing atmosphere.

That's not to say everyone was relaxed. Both the kids from the Isle and the people of Auradon tensed up, expecting the other to attack now that their visibility was lessened.

**"Once upon a time, long, long ago,"**

A voice from the screen drew their attention back to the film they had been brought to watch.

"Mal, is that your voice?" Evie whispered. Mal nodded, unsure as to why she was narrating this film. Ben, though, seemed to perk up at the sound of his girlfriend's voice.

**",well, twenty years ago, Belle married her beast in front of 6,000 of their closest personal friends. Big cake."**

Though they hid it well, a few of the citizens of Auradon chuckled at the line. However, it wouldn't do to be seen laughing at something a villain had said.

**"Yeah, so instead of a honeymoon, Beast united all the kingdoms and got himself elected king of the United States of Auradon."**

"Wait, you didn't have a honeymoon?" Ben asked, turning to his parents in shock.

"We had one later," Belle told him, shooting a loving look at her husband. "We needed to set up the kingdom first and iron out any of the bugs. Then we took a tour of the kingdom."

"Your mother longed for an adventure," Beast added on. "Though, let's get back to watching."

**"He rounded up all the villains and sidekicks—basically all the really interesting people—and he booted them off to the Isle of the Lost with a magical barrier to keep them there."**

"Hey! We're interesting!" Audrey exclaimed, irate about the insult.

"And not all the side characters were booted off, if so my dad would be on the Isle!" Doug pointed out.

"Yeah about that," Evie turned to him, a small glare on her face, "he helped murder my mom and yet Dopey's considered a hero. My mom only puts Snow White in an enchanted sleep and she gets sentenced to the Isle of the Lost."

"She tried to have the huntsman kill her!" Ferdinand exclaimed.

"Wait until the movie is over, then you may have your debate," the Blue Fairy quickly intervened before the conversation grew too heated to control.

**"This is my hood, no magic, no wi-fi, no way out."**

Several of the teens gasped upon hearing that there was no wi-fi on the Isle. Mal couldn't help but roll her eyes. If that upset them, they wouldn't last an actual day on the Isle.

**"Or so I thought…hang on, you're about to meet us. But first this happened."**

_**[Benjamin "Ben" Florian stares at the Isle of the Lost]** _

"Oh Benny-boo, you look so regal!" Audrey squealed while Mal covered her face so no one would see her smirk. It wouldn't do to make enemies in a place you couldn't escape.

"Benny-boo?" Belle asked, raising an eyebrow. "Tell me Ben, does Mal have any pet names for you?"

"Nah, she mainly just calls me that if she's teasing me," Ben told her, shooting a small smile toward Mal.

"Great, ruin my rep with your parents Benny-boo!" Mal called over to him.

"See?"

Belle couldn't help but smile at their antics. Clearly there had to be something about this girl that they just weren't seeing. If she was all villainous, her sweet boy with a heart of gold wouldn't be dating her.

**Lumiere: Sleeve. Head. Ah-ha!**

**King Beast: How is it possible that you're going to be crowned king next month? You're just a baby.**

Ben flushed as Chad and the other guys on the Tourney team laughed. Thankfully, he noticed Jay was one who did not. Maybe he was just trying to not draw attention to himself but no matter the reason, Ben was thankful.

**Belle: He's turning 16, dear.**

**Ben: Hey, pops.**

**King Beast: 16? That's far too young to be crowned king. I didn't make a good decision until I was at least 42.**

"Uh, didn't you marry Belle when you were 28?" Prince Charming asked.

**Belle: Uh, you decided to marry me at 28.**

**King Beast: Ah, it was either you or a teapot. Kidding.**

The look on Belle's face told all who looked at it that she still was not happy about that little 'joke'.

**Ben: Mom, Dad…**

**Lumiere: Ah! Nn-nnh!**

"I think you're going to drive him crazy with all that moving around," Mal said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm kinda antsy when I have an idea," Ben told her with a sheepish smile.

**Ben: I've chosen my first official proclamation. I've decided that the children on the Isle of the Lost should given a chance to live here in Auradon. Every time I look out to the island, I feel like they've been abandoned.**

Mal looked over at Ben in shock. She thought this had been part of her mother's plan—that Maleficent still had some pull over in Auradon to allow them the chance to leave the Isle. But knowing it was Ben's plan somehow made what they were planning to do all the more worse.

"Honestly, they should feel like that," Audrey scoffed. "They're villains."

"They're children," Lonnie snapped back. "They're our age Audrey. Tell me, what world shattering act of good have you done lately? Broken any curses?"

Audrey gasped but didn't react in any way. Lonnie sighed as none of the kids from the Isle met her eye. She knew she had a lot to make up for since she was one of the ones who didn't speak up for them when Queen Leah was making her scene.

**King Beast: The children of our swore enemies? Living among us?**

**Ben: We start off with a few at first, only the ones who need our help the most.**

"We don't need your help," Jay scoffed and Carlos rolled his eyes.

**Ben: I've already chosen them.**

**King Beast: Have you?**

**Belle: I gave you a second chance. Who are their parents?**

**Ben: Cruella De Vil**

Ben frowned at the slight flinch Carlos gave at the mention of his mother. Even though the children were villains, they shouldn't flinch at the sound of their parents. Right?

**Jafar**

Jay couldn't help but frown as Aladdin wrapped an arm around Emir as if to protect the boy from his father. Or himself. So much for the team being a family huh?

**Evil Queen**

Evie ducked her head to avoid looking over at Snow White and her prince. She didn't want to see the glares again.

**and Maleficent.**

_**[Lumiere yelps at what Ben said]** _

**King Beast: Maleficent! She's the worst villain in the land!**

"Why thank you your highness," Mal smirked. "I'll pass your complement to my mother."

Ben couldn't help but notice that the smirk didn't quite reach Mal's eyes.

**Ben: Dad, just hear me out here!**

**King Beast: I won't hear of it. They are guilty of unspeakable crimes.**

**Ben: Dad, their children are innocent. Don't you think they deserve a shot at a normal life? Dad?**

"Yeah I mean the so-called heroes certainly have a little grey in their system," Jay muttered to Mal. "I mean, say what you want about my thieving, at least I never pretended to be a prince like Aladdin did. You take that away, we're exactly the same."

"Guess that doesn't matter to the lovely royals of Auradon," Mal scoffed.

_**[King Beast stares at Belle]** _

**King Beast: I suppose their children are innocent.**

**Belle: Well, well done. Shall we?**

_**[King Beast and Belle walk off and Ben looks back to the Isle of the Lost. As the scene gets closer to the Isle, we start to hear music. We see the back of a purple haired girl spray painting the side of a building.]** _

"Mal," Evie shook her head in amusement.

"What? I had to make sure Shrimpy and Hook didn't make their way back into our territory," Mal smirked.

"Who's Shrimpy?" a small raven haired girl spoke up and the two girls paused, as if realizing there were other people who could hear them.

"Uma," Mal said after a few minutes. "Daughter of Ursula."

"Oh," the raven hair girl said and looked over at an older red-haired woman who Mal assumed was her mother. Meanwhile, King Beast looked shocked at the state of the Isle. It hadn't been that bad when they set it up!

**Mal:**

**They say I'm trouble**

**They say I'm bad**

**They say I'm evil**

**That makes me glad**

Ben looked over at Mal, unsure of what to say. Did that still make her glad or did she see there was a different path? He just wished he would ask her without all these people hearing it.

**Jay:**

**A dirty no good**

**Down to the bone**

**Your worst nightmare**

**Can't take me home**

"Why not?" someone asked. A few people looked over at them in shock, including Jay.

"Cause he steals everything that's not nailed down," Carlos told them, smirking as he ducked Jay's headlock.

**Evie:**

**So I got some mischief**

**In my blood**

**Can you blame me?**

**I never got no love**

"Oh the poor thing," Snow whispered. She would have thought that Grimhilde would have shown some love and compassion to her own daughter.

**Carlos:**

**They think I'm callous**

**A lowlife hood**

**I feel so useless**

**All: Misunderstood**

Aladdin couldn't help but wince at that—knowing what it was like to be judged by those around you based solely on your background. But still, they were the kids of villains. You had to be careful.

**Mal & Evie:**

**Mirror, mirror on the wall**

**Who's the baddest of them all?**

**Welcome to my wicked world**

**Wicked world**

"You girls have some lovely voices," Fairy Godmother commented. Evie beamed while Mal seemed to brush off the complement.

**Mal, Evie, Jay & Carlos:**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**Rotten to the core**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**Who could ask for more?**

**I'm nothing like a kid next**

**Like the kid next door**

**I'm rotten to the...**

**I'm rotten to the...**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**[Banging Rhythm]**

**[Kids yelling and hooting]**

"You know, they're not really hurting anyone," Mulan whispered to her husband. "They're just normal teens."

"True, but remember who their parents are," Shang whispered back. "We have to be careful."

**Mal:**

**Call me a schemer**

**Call me a freak**

**How can you say that?**

**I'm just unique**

Mal wouldn't admit it but she was thankful that non of the kids from 'bore-adon', as she used to call it, had actually called her a schemer or a freak. Though that might have been due to Ben's glare at his ex-girlfriend.

**Jay:**

**What, me a traitor?**

**Ain´t got your back**

**Are we not friends?**

**What´s up with that?**

"They should have known better," Evie giggled, talking about the couple who got their tea pot taken from them. "If it's not bolted down, it's yours for the taking Jay."

"Hey, they get their stuff back," Jay shrugged. "They just have to go to my dad."

**Evie:**

**So I´m a misfit**

**So I´m a flirt**

**I broke your heart**

**I made you hurt**

"Our monthly amusement as the guys who were left would compete over who would get your attention next," Mal chuckled. Doug couldn't help but frown—would that happen to him if he pursued a relationship with Evie?

"Mal!" Evie flushed. "You know that happened to all the decent looking girls on the Isle. We had to mess with them to avoid them messing with us. Well, except for you. No one dared to mess with you."

"You mean no one messed with my _mother_ ," Mal said with a frown but then shook her head, as if remembering where she was.

**Carlos:**

**The past is past**

**Forgive, forget**

"Impossible with this crowd," Carlos muttered to Jay.

**The truth is**

**You ain´t seen nothing yet**

**Mal & Evie:**

**Mirror, mirror on the wall**

**Who's the baddest of them all?**

**Welcome to my wicked world**

**Wicked world**

**[Freestyle remix]**

"Oh my," Belle gasped at the number of villains dancing with the four of them. That was a much larger population than she had expected.

**[Jay laughing]**

**Jay: YEAH!**

**Mal: Oooh.**

**Evie: HA! HA!**

**Carlos: YEAH!**

A few citizens of Auradon began muttering to themselves about how the children weren't doing anything particularly evil. In fact, a couple of them pointed out that they had engaged in musical numbers in their youth.

**Mal, Evie, Jay & Carlos:**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**Rotten to the core**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**Who could ask for more?**

**I'm nothing like a kid next**

**Like the kid next door**

**I'm rotten to the...**

**I'm rotten to the...**

**I'm rotten to the core**

**[The villagers laughs]**

"Well, that was interesting to say the least," Belle commented, a small smile on her face as she braced herself for the next scene. Her husband, though, was still shocked at how far the Isle had fallen. When they had created it, it was fine. Granted a little run down but nothing as bad as they'd seen.

"Are you ready to continue?" the Blue Fairy asked.

"Might as well," Mal shrugged.


	3. Chapter 3

**[Mal steals the baby's lollipop, when Maleficent arrives behind the knuckleheads.]**

**Mal: Hi, mom.**

**[Maleficent appears]**

Queen Leah gasped in fear and quickly wrapped her arms around Audrey, as to protect her granddaughter from the villain who had already ruined the life of her daughter.

"Mother," Aurora sighed as Phillip tried to pry her grip loose. While she was a little nervous around the daughter of Maleficent, she felt that her mother was taking things a little too far.

**Maleficent: Stealing candy? I'm so disappointed.**

**Mal: It was from a baby.**

"Is that supposed to make it better?" Lonnie asked.

"The more evil an act, the better it looks to our parents," Mal shrugged.

**Maleficent: That's my nasty little girl.**

**[Mal gives Maleficent the lollipop and she spits on it]**

**Maleficent: Give it back to the dreadful creature.**

"Err…no thanks," Chad said, grimacing at the thought of eating a lollipop someone had spit on beforehand.

"Try saying that to Maleficent," Carlos told him.

**Mal: Mom…**

**Maleficent: it's the deets, Mal, that make the difference between mean and truly evil. When I was your age, I was**

**Mal and Maleficent: Cursing entire kingdoms!**

**Maleficent: You. Walk with me. See, I'm just trying to teach you the thing that really counts…how to be me.**

"Oh geez, no pressure or anything," Evan Fitzherbert muttered as he leaned into his father's embrace.

**Mal: I know that, and I'll do better.**

**Maleficent: Oh! There's news! I buried the lede. You four have been chosen to go to a different school…in Auradon.**

**[Carlos, Jay and Evie try to run away, but the knuckleheads stop them]**

**Mal: What?! I'm not going to school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses!**

"Hey!" Audrey exclaimed. "We're not all prissy pink princesses."

"You're right," Mal nodded. "Lonnie's not."

"I meant me!"

"You're wearing pink right now!"

**Evie: And perfect princes. [She looks happy at the thought until she catches a glimpse of Mal's face] Ugh.**

"Do you always do what Mal wants you to?" Evan asked.

"Only if you want to survive on the Isle," Evie told him. "Now of course it helps since Mal's practically the leader of our group."

"You can make your own decisions, E," Mal told her with a role of her eyes.

**Jay: Yeah, and I don't do uniforms. Unless it's leather. You feel me?**

"Does he have a death wish?" Aladdin whispered to Jasmine. "Talking to Maleficent like that?"

"He's friends with her daughter," Jasmine whispered back. "She must have a small spot in her heart for her friends."

**Carlos: I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom said they're rabid pack animals who eat boys who don't behave.**

"That poor boy," Anita Radcliffe gasped. While she and her husband Rodger had no kids of their own, Anita had wanted to meet the son of her old school mate. To see if the last bit of what drew her to Cruella was still in there.

**[Jay sneaks up behind him]**

**Jay: Woof!**

**[Carlos hits Jay for scaring him]**

"Jerk," Carlos muttered, hitting Jay on the arm again. Then his head popped up. "Hey speaking of dogs, where's Dude?"

"Yeah, he was with Carlos at Family Day," Mal pipped up. The Blue Fairy spoke not a word but quickly waived her wand. A flash of light later and Dude was with them, safe and sound in Carlos' arms.

"Can't separate a boy and his dog," Anita whispered to Rodger, smiling a little at the sight.

**Mal: Yeah, mom. We're not going.**

**Maleficent: Oh, you're thinking small, pumpkin. It's all about world domination.**

"That's all it's about with her," Mal muttered under her breath.

**Maleficent: KNUCKLEHEADS!**

**[The knuckleheads follow her]**

**Maleficent: [singsong] Mal…**

**[The children follow Maleficent]**

**Maleficent: You will go. You will find Fairy Godmother and you will bring back the magic wand. Easy peasy.**

All the heroes gasped, and some of them started casting suspicious looks at the four villain kids. Had they already attempted to steal the wand? If so, would they try again?

"Oh please," Mal groaned as the muttering grew too much for her. "You really think we were just sent here by our parents? What, that they thought we deserved a second chance or a better life than we had on the Isle?"

"My mother didn't want me to leave because she'd lose her personal servant," Carlos told them. "If Evie hadn't blocked her path when the limo arrived, I don't doubt she would have dragged me back to Dragon Hall."

"My mother taught me how to apply blush before I could talk," Evie stated, earning a gasp of shock from Snow White. "Earning the affections of a prince were much more important than baking cookies or whatever else your parents did."

"But to steal Fairy Godmother's wand?" Ben asked, looking at Mal with hope in his eyes. He hoped that the look in Audrey's eyes was wrong—that Mal hadn't come here solely to steal the most powerful magical artifact known to them.

"Ben," Mal looked back and Ben could tell that the mask she wore while she was at school was slowly starting to crack. He could see all sort of emotions behind her emerald eyes but the one that scared him the most was fear. "You don't say no to my mother."

"Let's continue," Blue Fairy said after a moment of silence. She hoped that this revelation wouldn't undo all the progress that had begun.

**Mal: What's in it for us?**

**Maleficent: Matching thrones. Hers-and-hers crowns.**

"Somehow, I don't think that's what Mal meant," Mulan muttered.

**Carlos: Um I…I think she meant us.**

**[Carlos gestures to the four of them]**

**Maleficent: It's all about you and me, baby. Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?**

Ben looked over at Mal, hoping that the answer wasn't yes.

**Mal: Well, yeah. I mean, who doesn't….**

Ben couldn't help but sigh an inward sigh of relief. True, the answer was in the positive. But it was the weakest 'yes' he'd ever heard. There was still good in Mal. He knew it.

**Maleficent: well, then get me the wand and you and I can see that and so much more. And with that wand and my scepter, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!**

"I thought we took that away!" King Beast exclaimed.

"My mother has her ways," Mal smirked though Ben couldn't help but notice that once again, the smirk didn't quite reach Mal's eyes.

**Evil Queen: Our will!**

**Maleficent: Our will, our will.**

**[She snaps, which makes Mal look back at Maleficent]**

**Maleficent: And if you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your lives, missy.**

"Wait, did she just say 'lives'?" Lonnie asked. "I mean, I know she's Mal's mom, but she really didn't mean that she'd ground all of you right?"

"Like Mal said," Jay told her. "You don't say no to Maleficent. Our parents would have gone along with whatever she wanted."

**Mal: What…mom!**

**[Maleficent pretends to squish Mal's lips to make her stop complaining. They stare at one another, turning their eyes green. After a few minutes, Mal looks away and Maleficent straightens up with the triumphant air of a winner].**

**Mal: Fine. Whatever.**

"Uh, what just happened?" Chad asked.

"Family argument," Mal said, examining her nails. In truth, she'd rather be anywhere but in the room when the prissy Auradon princesses realized that she wasn't even as strong as her mother. That was the main reason no one had messed with her or the other Isle kids.

**Maleficent: I win.**

**Evil Queen: Evie! My little evillette in training. You just find yourself a prince with a big castle and a mother-in-law wing.**

**Evie & Evil Queen: And lots and lots of mirrors! **

**[Evie laughs]**

"That does explain a lot of the mirror questions," Evan nodded, thinking back to when the Princess had set her eyes on him. That was maybe a week before she realized that he wasn't in line for anything—he had four older sisters after all. It was then that she had moved on to Chad Charming.

**Evil Queen: No laughing! Wrinkles!**

"Seriously! She's a kid!" Jasmine exclaimed. "She's not going to get wrinkles over five minutes of laughing."

"Mother always taught me it's good to look your best," Evie told her.

"Evie, you spend more time on your makeup than you do sleeping," Mal told her, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, you spent the entire night working on Chad's homework three weeks ago and then I wake up at five and you're already working on your makeup. On a Saturday by the way!"

"I'm sorry?"

The girls froze as Cinderella spoke up. They had, once again, forgotten that there were other people in the room.

"Chad? Is what Mal said true?" Cinderella looked at her son with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course n—"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY SHE'S LYING, CHARMING!" a furious blonde stood up and stormed over to them. "I STILL REMEMBER WHEN YOU PROMISED ME A DATE IF I DID YOUR HISTORY REPORT!"

"Rachel, you're overreacting," Chad tried to brush off the daughter of Rapunzel and Eugene. Evan had already stood up when Chad started to speak, wanting to be able to stand up for his sister if given the chance.

"If she's overreacting, then I'm a princess," Lonnie snorted. "Everyone knows you've been with almost half the girls in school; the smarter girls get dumped about two weeks in since they stop doing your homework."

Before Chad could respond, the Blue Fairy shots sparks from her wand to gather everyone's attention.

"I'm sorry for interrupting but I do believe we may want to continue on with the film," she stated. "I promise there will be time for in-depth discussion afterwards."

"We will be discussing this," Cinderella told Chad. "Along with your father."

**Cruella: Oh, well, they're not taking my Carlos, because I'd miss him too much.**

Anita sighed an inward sigh of relief. At least there was some good left in her old schoolmate.

**Carlos: Really, mom?**

**Cruella: Yes. Who would touch up my roots, fluff my fur, and scrape the bunions off my feet?**

_On the other hand_ , Anita frowned, ignoring Rodger's knowing look being sent her way. She hadn't missed how hopeful Carlos had seemed upon hearing his mother's words and she couldn't help but feel even more saddened than she had been.

A child shouldn't have to feel hopeful that their parents would miss them.

**Carlos: Yeah, maybe a new school wouldn't be the worst thing.**

Ben shot Carlos a sad smile. While it was great that one of the kids was on board, it shouldn't have been because it was the only way to get away from his mother.

**Cruella: Oh, Carlos, they have dogs in Auradon.**

**Carlos: Oh, no! I'm not going!**

"That's just too cruel!" Snow White exclaimed.

"What did you expect? It's in her name!" Carlos shot back.

**Maleficent: [grunts]**

**Jafar: Well, Jay isn't going either. I need him to stock the shelves in my store.**

"Doesn't even pretend that he'd miss his kid," Aladdin muttered in disgust.

**Jafar: What did you score? Oh. Ooh. A lamp!**

**Jay: Dad. I already tried.**

**Jafar: Ah!**

**Evil Queen: Evie's not going anywhere until we get rid of this unibrow, hmmm?**

"What unibrow?" Audrey asked. She raised an eyebrow at the looks of shock she received. "What? She may be evil but I'm not blind."

"That may be the nicest thing she's said to or about you," Mal muttered to Evie, who nodded in shock.

**Maleficent: What is wrong with you all? People used to cower at the mention of our names! For 20 years, I have searched for a way off this island.**

"Thankfully, it's not possible unless you're invited off," King Beast stated, forgetting about the plan to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand. It just wasn't possible that four teenagers would be able to do such an act, regardless of who their parents were.

**Maleficent: For 20 years, they have robbed us from our revenge! Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men!**

**Evil Queen: Ow!**

Snow White couldn't help the sadness she felt in her heart at the knowledge that her stepmother still harbored feelings of resentment toward her. All she wanted was to be a family. Was that too much to ask?

**Maleficent: Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated genie.**

**Jafar: I will…**

**Jay: Pop!**

Aladdin tightened the grip he had on his son's shoulder, as if that would somehow prevent Jafar from enacting his revenge. Aladdin forgot, though, that Jafar was locked away on an island with no way off.

**Maleficent: Revenge on every sneaky dalmatian that escaped your clutches!**

**Cruella: Oh, but they didn't get baby. They didn't get the…they didn't get the baby!**

Anita gasped and her eyes welled with tears at the thought of one of their precious dalmatian pups being cruelly mistreated. While her Perdita only had fifteen pups, the ninety nine puppies that had entered their home were loved just as much as if they had come from Perdita herself.

**Maleficent: And I, Maleficent….the evilest of them all.**

"No ego there," Phillip muttered while trying once again to lessen Queen Leah's grasp on his daughter.

**Maleficent: I will finally have my revenge on Sleeping Beauty and her relentless little prince! Villains!**

**Evil Queen and Jafar: Yes?**

**Maleficent: Our day has come. E.Q., give her the magic mirror.**

**[Evil Queen hands Evie a small compact mirror. Evie looks at it with part confusion and disgust]**

"That's the magic mirror?" Snow White whispered, slightly confused. She always thought that it was, well, bigger. At least, that's what all the stories said. She had never actually seen her step-mother's magic mirror.

**Evie: This is your magic mirror?**

**Evil Queen: Yeah, well, it ain't what it used to be. But, then again, neither are we! It will help you find things.**

**Evie: Like a prince?**

**Evil Queen: Like my waistline.**

**Maleficent: Like the magic wand! Hello!**

Despite the risk of possibly having her wand stolen, Fairy Godmother couldn't help but smile slightly at the antics between the villains. She could see a lot of how their children acted and the relationships that had been formed. The smile faded as she remembered the disastrous video conference before Family Day.

**Evil Queen: Hello.**

**Maleficent: My spell book. My book. I need my... that book. Oh, ah! The safe. The safe. Queen, help me! I never can figure this thing out.**

"Isn't that a fridge?" Doug asked.

"It's better if you don't question it," Evie told him.

**Evil Queen: Voila.**

**Maleficent: My spell... come, darling. Come. Oh... ooh! Oh, Oh. There she is. It doesn't work here, but it will in Auradon. Remember? When we were spreading evil and ruining lives.**

"How did they retrieve those?" King Beast whispered to Belle. "I thought we took all their items when they were imprisoned."

"Maybe now is not the best time to worry about that," Belle whispered back.

**Evil Queen: Like it was yesterday.**

**Maleficent: And now you will be making your own memories by doing exactly as I tell you.**

"That was almost touching up to the last part," Rapunzel whispered, wrapping her hands around her lower arms as if to ward off the memory of Gothel and her treatment. She couldn't help be reminded of her own childhood as she watched Maleficent and Mal interact.

Eugene looked over at his wife and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, as if knowing what was going through her mind.

**Door.**

**Evil Queen: Oh.**

**Jay: Whoo! Let's get this party started!**

**Cruella: Carlos! Come.**

"He's not a dog!" Anita snapped, finally getting fed up of Cruella and her treatment of her son.

**Evil Queen: Who is the fairest of them all?**

**Evie: Me.**

**Evil Queen: Ah!**

**Evie: You.**

Snow White looked over at Evie, heartbroken that someone else was growing up almost the same way she had. Well, if you remove the attempted murder. Wait, would Evie even tell anyone if the Evil Queen did that?

**Evil Queen: Yes! Let's go.**

**Jafar: Now, recite our mantra.**

**Jay: There's no team in "I".**

"That's not how the saying goes," Chad scoffed.

**Jafar: Oh, run along. You're making me tear up.**

**Jay: My bag.**

**Jafar: Yeah.**

**Jay Dad!**

**Jafar: Coming!**

**[Maleficent and Mal stand on the balcony, looking out toward the horizon of Auradon]**

**Maleficent: The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it.**

"No pressure or anything," Ariel muttered.

**Mal!**

**Evil Queen: Ah! Smells like common folk.**

**Cruella: Come back here, now! Carlos! Ingrate.**

Anita couldn't help but smile at the thought of Carlos finally being free of his mother's clutches. That smile faded when she realized that, upon summer, the boy would have to go back to the Isle.

Looking over at Rodger, Anita couldn't help but hope that her husband would be willing to agree to possibly fostering the boy for the summers and other school vacations.

**Jafar: Bye-bye.**

**Man: The jackals have landed.**

"I forgot how much I liked him," Mal grinned as she ignored Ben and his parents' shocked looks. Belle immediately started stammering out an apology but Evie waived her off.

"We're used to it," she said simply.

This in no way made the royal family feel better.

**Jafar: Bring home the gold!**

**Cruella: Bring home a puppy.**

Dude growled at that, earning a slight chuckle from Carlos as he scratched his best friend behind the ears.

**Evil Queen: Bring home a prince!**

"Are you ready to see more or shall we stop for the day?" the Blue Fairy asked as the screen paused.

"I think we can make it through one more viewing before possibly stoping to eat," Ben said and some of the other Royals nodded their agreement. Ben looked over at his girlfriend. "Mal? This is your life after all. Do you want to continue?"

"It's fine," Mal said, shrugging off the looming doubt in her mind.

"Then let us resume," the Blue Fairy said with a slight smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**[Jay and Carlos notice candy in front of them. After a moment's pause, the two start to fight, trying to be the first one to take some. Meanwhile, Evie turns to Mal, holding a makeup brush.]**

"Why are you guys trying to kill each other over candy?" Evan asked.

"Because they're morons," Mal said with a smirk. She really didn't want to go into the fact that there really was no candy on the Isle, unless the monthly shipment of food happened to contain some. Considering most of the stuff was actually garbage, candy was in limited supply.

**Evie: You're looking a little washed out. Let me help you out.**

**Mal: [She looks disgusted and moves away from the makeup] Ew, stop. I'm plotting.**

"Not even there yet and already hard at work," Evie said, chuckling a little.

**Evie: Well, it's not very attractive [takes a bite of blue rock candy].**

_We certainly disagree there,_ Ben thought with a small smile at seeing his current girlfriend on the screen. Granted she was plotting to steal Fairy Godmother's wand and make it so that the villains took over but it was still attractive.

**Carlos: Oh! [taps Jay on the shoulder] These! It's salty like nuts, but it's sweet like I don't know what.**

"Chocolate," a red-haired young woman said with a smile.

"Oh Anna," a white-haired woman around her age shook her head in amusement.

**Jay: Let me see. [Carlos opens his mouth with the candy already chewed] Ew! [He hits Carlos and takes the other half of the candy and sticks it in his mouth]**

Many of the princesses wrinkled their noses at the sight of the pre-chewed candy and even a few princes felt disgusted at the sight.

**Carlos: Ow!**

**[Mal presses a button causing the window in front of the limo to come down. This causes Evie to look out it. Seeing what's in front of the car, she shouts in alarm.]**

**Evie: Look!**

**Carlos: It's a trap! [All four of them start to scream but the car continues to drive. We see that the bridge that had been destroyed is now a glowing road, taking them to Auradon. The kids, upon not plummeting to certain death, calm down and appear to be confused] What just happened?**

"What was that?" Lonnie asked, concerned for her friends. They didn't actually think they would have been thrown into the ocean, right?

"Exactly what it looked like," Mal told her, the walls from Family Day still up when it came to any of the children from Auradon. Well, with the exception of Ben.

**Evie: It must be magic.**

**Mal: [Turning to the driver] Hey. did this little button just open up the magic barrier?**

**Man: No, this one opens up the magic barrier [holds up another button]. This one opens up my garage. And this button [presses a button that causes the window between him and the four to roll up]….**

"That is the last time I allow him to drive to the Isle!" Belle stated. "Honestly, if that's how he treats children!"

"Your majesty, it was fine!" Evie told her.

"Yeah totally!" Mal nodded.

**Mal: Okay. Nasty. I like that guy.**

**[The limo arrives in Auradon and we see people cheering as the limo pulls up in front of the marching band that's playing. The driver opens up the door and Carlos and Jay tumble out of it, fighting over various items]**

**Carlos: Oh! Ah! Ow! Stop! You got everything else! Why do you want whatever this is?**

"Oh lord," Mal sighed and fought the urge to hide her eyes. Evie had no such power and groaned while placing her hands over her eyes as if to block out the image on the screen.

**Jay: Cause you want it!**

"They're like siblings," a woman with frizzy red hair chuckled.

"More like your brothers," an older woman with long flowing brown hair replied accompanied with a chuckle of her own.

**[The band has stopped playing at this point and the other members of Auradon look around awkwardly, as if unsure of whether they should interject]**

**Carlos: No! Give it to me! Ow! Let go!**

**Mal: [breaks up the fight as she realizes the folks from Auradon are watching]Guys, guys, guys! We have an audience.**

**[Carlos and Jay look up and break apart as they also realize that they were being watched. Jay though doesn't miss the opportunity to gather some of the items that had fallen out of the limo]**

**Jay: Just cleaning up. Get up.**

**Fairy Godmother: [approaches Jay] Leave it like you found it! And by that, I mean just leave it.**

**Jay: [leaving the stuff from the limo and turning to see Audrey] Hello foxy. The name's Jay.**

**Fairy Godmother: Welcome to Auradon Prep. I'm Fairy Godmother, headmistress.**

**Mal: The fairy godmother? As in, "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo'?**

**Fairy Godmother: Bibbidi-bobbidi. You know it.**

**Mal: Yeah, I always wondered what if felt like for Cinderella when you just appeared, out of nowhere, with that sparkly wand and warm smile.**

**Fairy Godmother: Oh.**

**Mal: And that sparkling wand.**

"Really Mal?" Evie chuckled. "I can't believe no one noticed that."

"Give me a break E," Mal shook her head. "You try coming up with something right off the cuff. All your designs take weeks to perfect."

Meanwhile, Fairy Godmother sighed. She hadn't noticed that during the exchange because she thought that the interest with her wand was purely academic. After all, the child was part fairy and would have had the pain of not being able to practice her magic on the Isle.

**Fairy Godmother: That was a long time ago. And as I always say, "don't focus on the past or you'll miss out on the future."**

**Ben: It's so good to finally meet you all. I'm Ben.**

**Audrey: Prince Benjamin. Soon to be king.**

"Audrey, the whole point was so they didn't know who I was," Ben shook his head. "If they knew, they might have thought that I was only there out of royal obligation."

"Or we might have thought that it was your idea since you would be the one making the decisions," Mal said, causing Ben to look forward in hope. "But your idea is much more plausible."

"Too bad we all thought it was Maleficent's doing anyway," Carlos muttered in amusement.

**Evie: You had me at prince. My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess.**

**Audrey: The evil queen has no royal status here and neither do you.**

"Audrey!" Aurora scolded her daughter. "While that may be true, you have to have a little more tact when addressing the matter."

Audrey nodded, unhappy about being scolded in front of the villains. Mal, on the other hand, couldn't help but be impressed at Sleeping Beauty. Now, how would she react when she found out exactly what her daughter was like?

**Ben: This is Audrey.**

**Audrey: Princess Audrey. His girlfriend. Right, Bennyboo?**

Lonnie bit back a snort at the recurring nickname. One of the best things about Mal's arrival was the fact that the nickname had finally died.

**Fairy Godmother: Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around, and I'll see you tomorrow. The doors of wisdom are never shut. But the library hours are from 8:00 to 11:00. And as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews.**

"Gee, it's almost like my whole life," Jane muttered to the student sitting next to her. "It's hard to make friends when you have to be back home exactly when your mom says."

**Ben: It is so, so, so good to finally me... meet you all. This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history... Is that chocolate? As the day our two peoples began to heal.**

**Mal: Or the day that you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are.**

"Considering we hadn't gone all day, you were pushing your luck there Ben," Mal told him.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, turning to Mal with a hint of concern on his face.

"The Isle was having a sewage backup problem—the only toilet that worked was Gaston's and to this day we don't know how he managed that," Jay said with a shrug. "It happened about once a month so we weren't that concerned."

"Until being scared out of our minds by the bridge reminded us that we did, in fact, have to use them," Carlos added. "Evie's probably the only one who could have gone an extra hour or so since she can go the entire school day and never use a bathroom break. "

"Carlos!" Evie exclaimed.

"What? You know it's true!"

"Well yes, but you don't talk about those things!" Evie told him. "It's not proper!"

Mal, Carlos and Jay looked at each other and then, in unison, replied, "WE'RE VILLAINS!"

"Oh," Evie looked down, sheepishly. "Right, I forgot."

**Ben: A little bit over the top?**

**Mal: A little more than a little bit.**

**Ben: Well, so much for my first impression.**

**Audrey: Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora. Sleeping...**

**Mal: Beauty! Yeah, I've heard the name. You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening.**

**Audrey: Water under the bridge.**

**Mal: Totes!**

"And that wasn't awkward at all," Phillip muttered. While he wasn't crazy about the idea of the villain kids staying in Auradon, he couldn't help but hope that Audrey would help the new students. Instead, he found just the opposite.

**Ben: Okay! So, how about a tour? Yeah? Auradon prep, originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king. [The statue changes from the man to a beast, causing Carlos to scream] Carlos, It's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible.**

**Mal: Does he shed much?**

**Ben: Yeah, mom won't let him on the couch.**

Everyone couldn't help their snorts of amusement at Ben's deadpanned delivery.

"You know Ben," Emir said with a grin, "if being king doesn't work out, you could always go into comedy!"

**Mal: So you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon? Like wands and things like that?**

**Ben: Yeah, it exists of course, but It's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals.**

"Who happen to be royalty," Lonnie muttered.

**Mal: Who happened to be kings and queens.**

**Audrey: That's true. Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years.**

"Not all of our blood," Aladdin whispered and locked eyes with Cinderella and Eugene. The three of them had become close after one of Jasmine's royal meet-and-greets as there always seemed to be a new royal coming out of the woodwork. They were always there to assist when the strain of royal life seemed to get one of them down.

Even Belle was a semi-permanent member of their group. She just couldn't come as often as her duties of Queen kept her busy.

**Ben: [As the group enters the school, another student approaches them] Doug. Doug, come down. This is Doug. He's going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms. I'll see you later, okay? And If there is anything you need, feel free to...**

**Audrey: Ask Doug.**

"You're grounded," Aurora turned to Audrey. "Two weeks with no phone, no computer and no car."

"What?!" Audrey exclaimed.

"You heard me," Aurora told her.

**Mal: Ha.**

**Doug: Hi, guys. I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and... Heigh-ho.**

**Evie: Evie. Evil queen's daughter.**

Doug flushed as his cousins couldn't help but laugh at his reaction to Evie's arrival.

"Got a crush, Doug?" one of them teased.

"Shut it, Harper," Doug muttered. However, Harper's voice, low as it was, was loud enough for Evie to hear him. She honestly didn't know how to feel about that—on the Isle, no one paired up for love. It was all about connections. It's why she was told to get a prince after all. A prince meant mobility. A prince meant stability. A prince meant never having to go back to the Isle.

**Doug: Okay. So about your classes, I, uh, put in the requirements already... history of woodsmen and pirates, safety rules for the Internet, and, uh, remedial goodness 101.**

"Gee, new class?" Eugene muttered to Aladdin, rolling his eyes. Honestly, while they weren't villains, the two of them knew that they wouldn't be seen as 'good' in the eyes of the heroes back when they were stealing things.

**Mal: Let me guess. New class? Come on, guys, let's go find our dorms.**

**Doug: Oh, uh, yeah, your dorms are that way, guys. Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and...**

**Carlos: Sneezy.**

"How'd you know that?" Doug asked.

"History class always mentioned them," Carlos shrugged. "It was one of the few classes I found interesting."

**[Mal and Evie enter their dorm, which was bright and airy. Evie looks on in amazement while Mal is more disgusted with how the room looks]**

"What was wrong?" Ben asked, turning to Mal.

"We weren't exactly used to all that sun," Mal told him.

"And all that space," Evie added on. "I mean I liked the room but for just Mal and myself, it felt like a castle."

"Most families on the Isle double up," Mal explained to Ben, who looked confused. "With the exceptions of my family, Evie's, Carlos' and Gaston's, most everyone had about two or three families living with them."

"I would have welcomed another family," Carlos muttered under his breath.

"But then, why would you be used to cramped conditions if you didn't have another family with you?" Lonnie asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Just because we lived alone didn't mean our rooms were spacious," Evie said. "The only reason no one else roomed with us was that everyone was terrified of our mothers."

**Evie: Wow. This place is so amaz...**

**Mal: Gross.**

**Evie: I know, right? Amazingly gross.**

"E, you can have your own opinion you know," Mal whispered with a sigh, having had this conversation a time or twenty. "Besides, my mom wasn't there. It's not like she can affect what you think."

"I know," Evie whispered back. "It's just, I didn't want you mad at me for liking the room. I couldn't afford to lose a friend that quickly."

"Nothing you do is going to make me give up our friendship E," Mal told her, wrapping an arm around Evie's shoulders.

**Mal: Ew. Ugh! I'm going to need some serious sunscreen.**

**Evie: Yeah.**

**Mal: E. [Evie grabbed one set of curtains while Mal grabbed the other set and the girls drew them closed] Whew! That is much better.**

"Huh, now I know what to do when the next group comes in," Ben nodded.

"You're not seriously going to continue this!" Chad asked, alarmed.

"Why not?"

"Maybe because those four are only here because they're going to steal Fairy Godmother's wand!"

**[The girls walk into Carlos and Jay's room, where we see Carlos playing a video game and Jay surrounded by what looks to be other people's things.]**

**Carlos: Whoo! Whoa! Ah! Whoa!**

**Mal: Jay, what are you doing?**

**Jay: It's called stealing.**

"Stealing is forbidden here," Fairy Godmother told him. "You will have to return those items to their rightful owners."

**Mal: Okay, what's the point?**

**Jay: Well, Mal, It's like buying whatever I want, except it's free.**

"Plus, you know, raised since birth to do so," Jay said with a shrug.

"Oh right," Mal nodded. "I forgot Jafar did basically teach you to steal since you could walk. The man needed new items for his store."

**Mal: Okay. So, you could do that, or you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world.**

"I'm with Mal on this one," Carlos said with a chuckle.

**Evie: You sound just like your mom.**

**Mal: Thank you.**

"It wasn't a compliment," Evie told her.

"I took it as one," Mal smirked. It was her goal to be just like her mother and hearing that from her best friend was icing on the cake.

**Jay: You do it your way and I'll do it mine.**

**Carlos: Die, suckers! Jay, come check this thing out. Man, It's awesome.**

"Amazing," Charming chuckled. "Here for only hours and they forgot the task their parents assigned them."

"Maybe having them here won't be that bad," Cinderella told him. "Mal seems to be the only one focused on the goal and she doesn't seem the type to work alone."

**Mal: Guys! Do I have to remind you what we're all here for?**

**Jay: Fairy Godmother, blah, blah, blah. Magic wand, blah, blah, blah.**

The younger students couldn't but chuckle at Jay's response. They didn't understand why the older students and the parents had such a hard time understanding that there was nothing wrong with the four. Mal and Jay were always ready to protect them if they had a problem with another student, Evie helped them with homework. Carlos and Duke cheered them up when they felt down.

**Mal: This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents. To prove that we are evil and vicious and ruthless and cruel. Yeah?**

Ben couldn't help but look at Mal. There were many words one could use to describe his girlfriend but evil, vicious, ruthless or cruel were not one of them. Maybe he was biased since he was dating her but he could tell since she arrived that she was the opposite of how everyone thought she was like. Granted she was snarky and she wore darker clothing but there were people in Auradon who did the same. Saying Mal was a villain would be like saying Meg was a villain.

**All: Yeah.**

**Mal: Evie, mirror me.**

**Evie: Mirror, mirror on the... in my hand, where is fairy godmother's wand... stand?**

"Nice rhyme," Audrey snickered.

"Do you want to make it three weeks?" Aurora asked, having heard her daughter's comment.

"Mother!"

"Apologize."

Audrey sighed but nodded. "My apologizes Evie."

"Rhyming wasn't an encouraged task on the Isle," Evie said with a smile.

**Mal: There it is!**

**Carlos: Zoom out.**

**Evie: Magic mirror, not so close. Closer. Closer. Closer.**

**Carlos: Can I go back to my game? I'm on level three.**

"The attention span of a gnat," Lonnie chuckled with a smile.

**Mal: Stop! It's in a museum. Do we know where that is?**

**Carlos: 2.3 Miles from here.**

"How did you know that?!" Ben exclaimed. "You weren't even looking at the screen!"

"Knowing how far something is was a vital skill on the Isle," Mal explained as Carlos seemed unlikely to answer. "It meant you knew how far safety was if you were attacked."

**[The group leaves and Carlos returns to his game]**

**Mal [annoyed] : Come on. Carlos!**

**Carlos: Coming!**

"Shall we continue?" Blue Fairy asked as the screen faded to black. She knew she had asked this every time but she wanted to give Mal and the others a chance to back out. If they grew uncomfortable with the others knew, she wanted them a chance to say no.

Something they had never been given before.

"I have no problems," Mal shrugged. She knew that they had failed to get the wand and since they all knew they were there to steal the wand, it wasn't new information.

"I'm good," Evie nodded.

"Same here," the boys chimed in.

"Your majesty?" Blue Fairy asked, looking at Beast and Ben. Ben looked at his father, unsure as to who the Blue Fairy was asking.

"Go ahead son," Beast told him. Ben smiled before turning to the Blue Fairy.

"Go ahead," Ben told her. The Blue Fairy nodded and waved her wand, causing the screen to once again come alive.


	5. Chapter 5

Before the Blue Fairy could waive her wand to show the next bit, Queen Belle raised her hand.

"Forgive my interruption Blue Fairy, but I believe we said at the end of the previous clip that we'd watch one more and then stop for a bite," she said. "Now, I'm not sure about the rest of you but I certainly could go for a break."

Ben looked over at Mal and the others, wondering what they would choose. It was clear that they wanted this over with as quickly as possible but then, Ben didn't blame them in the slightest. This was their past being aired out throughout the kingdom.

"Mal, come on," he heard Carlos hiss. "When's the last time we've had a break?"

"Carlos is right Mal," Evie muttered. "Thanks to that fiasco of a conference call, we didn't have a chance to eat before the parents showed up. I'm starving!"

"Nothing you're not used to, E," Mal muttered back, her eyes scanning the room as if looking for any potential threats. "But you're right. Sides, if we have to run it might be better to have our strength up."

"Why am I not surprised that it's that argument that got you to agree to a break?" Jay shook his head, almost like an exacerbated older brother. Mal ignored him and quickly locked eyes with Ben, her head only moving half an inch but it was clearly a nod.

"Very well," the Blue Fairy said, and Ben realized that she had been looking over at Mal as well. "We can stop for around an hour."

With a wave of her wand, a nearby table was suddenly covered in more food than the Isle four had ever seen. Their classmates formed a nice and orderly line, chatting away about what they had seen.

"So, I guess we should get in line," Mal said, as the four of them had hung back.

"Maybe it'll be better if we wait a little more," Evie said, trying to avoid looking at the decadent food and having her stomach growl audibly with hunger. "With everything that's been revealed, the tensions from Family Day are probably still very strong."

Mal looked over at the boys, who nodded in agreement. Mal couldn't help but be relieved—there was no way she wanted to join the line. Little did she know that two of her friends had noticed that they weren't in line.

"Ben," Lonnie whispered as the crown prince joined her in line. Ben never believed for using his position to further himself and so had avoided Audrey's invitation to join her near the front of the line. In fact, his father and mother were even further back than he was—he was in the middle of the line, making sure to not cut any younger viewers who might have been trying to get to the food.

"I see," Ben nodded, looking over at his girlfriend and her friends. He could understand why they were avoiding the lines.

"What should we do?" Lonnie asked. "I could talk to my parents, see if they could grab some plates. I feel bad making them sit by themselves."

"The last thing those four would want would be our pity," Ben told her.

"What pity?" Lonnie said with a smirk that could rival Mal's. "You would do the same for me right?"

"Of course!"

"Hey, are you guys going to sit by Mal?" Rachel Fitzherbert chimed in, causing the two of them to freeze. "I love her hair, with how purple it is! Why aren't they going to get food? Do you think we should grab plates for them?"

"Breathe Rach," her brother Evan said with a chuckle.

"That was the plan, but I didn't know you knew them," Ben told Rachel, who rolled her eyes.

"Mal's been helping me in History and Evie's been helping boost my science score," Rachel told him. "Not to mention the two have helped keep an eye out on Rose, Rowyn, and Robin."

"Evie and I went out for a week," Evan said. "It stopped when she realized that I wouldn't be heir to my parents' kingdom but we're still friends."

Ben couldn't help the small chuckle that emerged from his lips at that. The whole situation was just Evie.

"Okay, Lonnie, can you and Rachel grab food for Carlos and Evie?" Ben asked. "I'll grab a plate for Mal if Evan doesn't mind grabbing a plate for Jay?"

"Considering you're the one dating her, I would have thought you wanted to grab Mal's plate," Lonnie said with a chuckle and the four of them quickly moved through the line, grabbing anything they thought the Isle Four would like. Ben especially grabbed a huge portion of strawberries for Mal, as he remembered how much she loved them on their date.

"Hey guys," he said as he sat down next to Mal, carefully balancing his own plate on his forearm as he handed Mal hers.

"How crazy has this whole thing been?" Lonnie asked, sitting down next to Carlos and doing the same; Rachel and Evan following suit. Mal couldn't help but look confused, an action that Ben found adorable and yet had his heart aching at the same time. Did Mal really think he wouldn't grab food for her.

"Thanks," Mal said softly. "We were fine waiting though."

"We were already there," Ben said. "It stinks that you have to sit by yourselves. You should be with the group."

"Ben, we're the villains," Evie told him as Mal had taken a huge bite of a strawberry. "It's better if we're by ourselves. I'm sure you guys would rather sit by your families anyway."

Rachel and Evan snorted in amusement, which caused Evie to look their way.

"Evie, did you ever find out what our father did before he married our mother?" Evan asked.

"No, why—"

"He was a thief," Evan told her. "Had wanted posters and everything."

"Don't get him started on the nose thing," Rachel muttered.

"My mother practically broke the law when she joined the army dressed as a man," Lonnie told them. "Any way you slice it, almost all of our parents have done something with a slight shade of grey to it."

"Well maybe not Aubrey's," Rachel muttered.

"Does produce her count?" Mal muttered back and Evan snorted in amusement, having heard the muttered comment. The small gathering of students did not escape the watchful eye of their parents.

"Blondie, it's fine," Eugene said, trying to steer Rapunzel away.

"But—"

"If they have an issue, you know Rachel or Evan will get us," Eugene told her. "Besides, they're with Ben and Lonnie. Do you really think Mulan let her daughter grow up without any way to defend herself?"

"Well, no," Rapunzel sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Besides, even if I could, I don't have Max to set as a guard," Eugene told her. "Now come on. This is the first time I've seen those kids relax since we all arrived at the school."

Rapunzel smiled at her husband and sat down next to him. She knew how much he cared for their children and if they were somehow in danger, there would be no way Eugene would allow them to sit anywhere near the children from the Isle.

"I never knew the kids on the Isle had it so rough," Rapunzel said softly, looking down at her food. "I mean, I know we put the villains there but the children never did anything to us."

"I agree," Anita chimed in. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I heard you talking about the children from the Isle."

"No I understand!" Rapunzel said and tried to shoot one of her amazing smiles but this one didn't seem to reach her eyes. Eugene inwardly sighed; his wife was so caring and wonderful. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her but they had five kids already. He didn't think they'd be able to adopt a child from the Isle.

"Which child is yours?" Eugene asked, making room for Anita and her husband to sit. Everyone knew of the 101 Dalmatian owners, so it didn't make much sense to ask for their names. By the looks on Rodger and Anita's faces, Eugene knew he had pretty much stuck his foot in his mouth.

"We haven't been fortunate enough to have kids," Anita said quietly. "It's one of the many reasons we love our dogs so much."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rapunzel told her, her bright green eyes welling up with tears.

"No, it's alright," Anita said, wiping away any stray tears that may have fallen from her eyes. "Believe it or not, it was in spite of this that we decided to attend Parent's Day. You see, I had heard that Cruella's son had been selected to attend Auradon Prep and I wanted to see if any thing remained from the Cruella I knew in school."

"That does not seem to be the case," Rodger pointed out.

"Hush Rodger," Anita scolded. Eugene couldn't help but chuckle at the interaction between husband and wife.

"We were actually hoping to talk to Queen Belle or Prince Ben," Anita continued, ignoring her husband. "But I see that Prince Ben is busy."

"It's good to see the kid acting like a real teen," Rodger nodded, looking over at the group of teens. It was a little sad to see that they were still sequestered from the other student population but at least Ben, Lonnie, Rachel and Evan had stopped caring what everyone thought.

"Why are you looking for Queen Belle?" Rapunzel asked. "I can go get her if you'd like?"

Anita sighed in relief. "That would be great, actually. Rodger and I weren't royalty before the lands merged and we're not royalty now. It would feel weird to just demand the queen's time."

"You don't need to worry about that," Aladdin told her, having had listened into the conversation. "Belle's pretty good about being accessible unless she's gotten a new book. Though that usually takes about three to four days."

"Thank you Aladdin," Belle chuckled from behind him, causing the former street rat to jump. "Rapunzel informed me that someone was looking for me?"

"I was, your majesty," Anita said softly, looking down and dropping for a quick curtsey.

"You don't have to do that," Belle said quickly. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Anita went to open her mouth but then the Blue Fairy fired a warning shot from her wand, causing the room to light up in blue sparks. It had seemed that their time was up.

"Find me in the next break," Belle told her, having seen the sparks as well. "We can talk then."

"Thank you," Anita said with a smile, hoping to get some answer about where Carlos would go during the holidays. She barely knew the boy but she knew that him living with them would be ten times better than living with his mother.

"Are we ready?" The Blue Fairy asked, as everyone quickly found their seats. Aladdin had kept his seat by Eugene and Rapunzel, as well the kids who had eaten with the Isle Four had decided to keep their spots to much dismay.

"We're ready, Blue Fairy," Ben said and Mal nodded firmly in agreement. One was never really ready to have their past shown to the world but at least she would have Ben by her side throughout the rest of it. Wait, the rest of it. Would they show the cookie?

Well, it was fun while it lasted.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay," Ben sighed as everyone got comfortable once more. The Blue Fairy waved her wand and the footage resumed.

**The Villain Kids arrived at the museum, sneaking along the path.**

**"** **Come on, check your mirror," Mal whispered to Evie. Evie took out the mirror upon request.**

**"** **Is my mascara smudged?" Evie gasped.**

"Seriously?" A small girl with light brown hair sighed and rolled her eyes. "Is that really the time to be thinking about that."

**"** **Yeah, and hey, while you're at it, why don't you see if you can find us the wand?" Mal said sarcastically, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.**

"You know, I may be against stealing Fairy Godmother's wand, but I do appreciate wanting to get a job done right," Cinderella said, causing Chad to look at her in shock.

"Mother!"

"Did you forget what my step-mother had me do before I met your father?" Cinderella asked her son, giving him a sad smile. "If I had done a job poorly, that would have just meant more work for me later on."

**"** **Sure. This way." Evie looked into her mirror and pointed to the right, leading the other three to the museum entrance.**

**The four stopped in front of the museum doors and looked inside. In the room, a security guard sat watching the monitors before him. In the center of the room sat Maleficent's spinning wheel.**

"That…is not as intimidating as I remember," Aurora said with a frown. "Maybe it's the lack of green glow around it."

"Seems kinda dorky," Audrey whispered to Chad, who bit back a laugh.

**"** **That's your mother's spinning wheel?" Jay laughed.**

**"** **Yeah, it's kind of dorky," Carlos told Mal, the laughter evident in his own voice.**

Audrey tried her hardest to make sure a disgusted look didn't show on her face. She didn't want to give her mother an excuse to extend her grounding to three weeks.

**"** **It's magic. It doesn't have to look scary," Mal shot back and dug out her mother's spell book. Opening it to the right page, she looked back at the guard. "Magic spindle, do not linger. Make my victim prick a finger."**

"You know, I'm beginning to wish your mother wasn't brought with us," Phillip whispered to Aurora as Leah once again grabbed hold of Audrey.

"Well it's better than when she used to do it with me," Aurora whispered back. "We could barely spend our wedding night alone."

**The four watched in anticipation before the moment was ruined by the security guard's yawn.**

**"** **Impressive," Jay snarked.**

**"** **I got chills," Carlos deadpanned, causing both boys to smirk.**

"You two are the only ones who could snark like that in front of Mal," Evie said with a chuckle.

**"** **Okay, you know what?" Mal growled and looked back at the book. "Prick the finger, prick it deep. Send my enemy off to sleep."**

**The guard got up from his chair and walked over to the spinning wheel. With no control over his actions, or any idea as to what he was doing, he touched the tip of the needle. Instantly, he was put to sleep.**

"Whoa." Evan gasped, amazed at how simple a thing could be so powerful.

**"** **Not so dorky now, huh?" Mal smirked. She went to open the door but frowned as she found it was locked.**

"We never lock our doors because we never really see the point," Evie said with a shrug. "Most of our stuff ends up at Jafar's shop anyway."

**"** **Stand back," Jay said with a smirk, backing up but not realizing no one had listened to what he had said. Mal realized what Jay had planned. Knowing that such an action would be a surefire way for them to get caught, Mal looked back at her mother's spell book for a solution.**

"Did you not think about possible alarms?" Aladdin asked Jay, causing the boy to almost jump in shock.

"Honestly, the chance to use force was all I thought about," Jay told him. "We don't have electricity on the Isle."

"Makes sense," Aladdin said with a nod. It felt weird talking to the son of the man who tried to kill him and Jasmine but at the same time, Aladdin had been a thief. It was rare that he could compare notes with someone.

**"** **Make it easy, make it quick, open up without a kick," Mal whispered. As soon as the last word left her lips, the doors opened. Jay ran right at the opened doors.**

"This won't end well," Jane said with a wince.

**"** **Ahh!" Jay came flying through the museum entrance in an attempt to kick open the already unlocked doors. He landed on the floor with a thud.**

Everyone tried avoiding eye contact with each other, as if to ward off the laugher that everyone was dying to let loose. But Jay was their Tourney star—it wouldn't be right to laugh at him.

**Mal and Evie laughed at the sight and Mal playfully kicked Jay's leg as the girls walked on. "Coming?"**

**"** **Come on, Jay," Carlos offered his hand to his friend.**

**"** **I'm good," Jay said, hopping back up on his own.**

**"** **Just trying to help," Carlos said with a shrug. The villain kids walked past the guard and looked around the room at all the different items on display. Quickly realizing that the wand wasn't there, they left the room in search of it; Carlos bringing up the rear.**

"The guard's leg almost hit me," Carols said when everyone looked over him. "I didn't want to be the one to wake him up. Plus, I was a little curious about the spinning wheel since it's so outdated."

Anita noted that and made a point to see what technology they could afford; as upkeep for 101 Dalmatians was more expensive than one would have thought.

**"** **Carlos!" Mal hissed, motioning for Carlos to follow them.**

**"** **Coming."**

**"** **So close. Upstairs," Evie said, the other three following close behind.**

**"** **Come on. Go, go, go, go. Up, up, up, up, up," Mal ushered the boys to follow Evie, not realizing that they were heading straight for the Villains gallery.**

"We should have realized that," Mal whispered to the other three, hoping that her song of doubt wouldn't be shown.

"Why would we think there would be statues of our parents?" Evie whispered back.

"Why are we all whispering?" Ben chimed in with a small chuckle as the girls jumped, forgetting he was there.

**"** **Come on, guys. Almost there," Evie said as they reached the top of the stairs.**

**Upon entering the first room, the four paused in shock and bewilderment. Before their eyes were four, almost life like statues of their parents.**

**"** **Mommy?" Evie whispered.**

"Oh dear," Snow gasped. Seeing how her mother would have looked like from their perspective would certainly shock a girl like Evie. "Why weren't those put somewhere else when those four came in? That museum is open to the public after all."

**"** **Killer," Jay muttered.**

Aladdin shuddered as the memories of the final fight came into his head and he fought the urge to embrace his son once more.

**"** **I will never forget Mother's Day again," Carlos vowed, staring at the statue of his mother.**

"A son shouldn't feel fear at forgetting Mother's Day," Anita whispered to Rodger.

"Considering how he's treated, I don't think Cruella should be considered a mother," Rodger whispered back, looking at the boy and, unknowingly to his wife, got on board with the idea of keeping Carlos as far away from Cruella as possible.

**"** **Well, the wand's not here. Let's bounce," Jay said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go!"**

Aladdin frowned upon hearing the fear in the younger boy's voice. Looking over at Jasmine, he wondered if she would be willing to have Jay stay with them….at least for a week or two.

Maybe it was a risky move but a child should never be in an area where they fear the person taking care of them.

**Jay left the room, quickly followed by Evie and Carlos—none of them realizing that Mal trailed behind. Mal looked fixedly at the statue of her mother and slowly walked closer to it. Music began to play in the background, but Mal gave no sign that she noticed it.**

"Why is there music?" A smallish boy with the same light brown hair as the girl before asked.

"Daniel!" The girl from before shushed him.

"It's an honest question!"

**"** **The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it."**

**Maleficent's voice rang out, as if echoing in Mal's head.**

"No pressure," Jasmine muttered.

**Mal:**

**Look at you, look at me**

**I don't know who to be, Mother.**

All of the married-into-royals looked at each other with knowing looks. While it wasn't the same as what Mal was feeling, they could sympathize with the dual feelings of being pulled into two separate directions.

**Is it wrong? Is it right? Be a thief in the night, Mother.**

"Wrong. Definitely wrong."

"Harper, shut up," Doug groaned and fought the urge to put his head in his hands. He had eyes—he could see that, as much as Mal wanted to hide it, she really didn't want the rest of the room hearing her inner thoughts.

**Tell me what to do….**

"But that would require that Maleficent be in that room," Audrey said.

**Evie appeared in the doorway, as if realizing Mal hadn't been with them. "Mal, come on!" Evie motioned for Mal to follow before disappearing once more. Mal went to follow before the statue of her mother came to life, with a terrifying laugh filling the room.**

Total silence ran through the room. No one knew how to react—the adults were resisting the urge to run screaming and the kids were looking to their parents.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"Lonnie!" Mulan shouted, a little shocked at her daughter's language.

"I'm sorry mother, but what is an appropriate reaction to that?" Lonnie asked, pointing at the screen.

Mulan paused, and realized her daughter had a point. "Fair enough, but watch the language. There are little kids here who don't need to hear that."

"Who taught you that?" Shang asked.

"Uncle Yao," Lonnie shrugged. Shang sighed but figured that would be the answer.

Queen Leah was shouting that she had said that this would happen, that they needed to be wary of the villains.

"Mother!" Aurora shouted, shocking everyone. "Enough! If Maleficent had truly left the Isle, I don't think she would have stayed in the museum."

**"** **Don't be so serious, darling! I'm sorry!" Maleficent bent over laughing and then started to sing.**

"I hear music. Is your mother going to sing?" Ben asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the universe hates me."

**Maleficent:**

**I was once like you, my child. Slightly insecure.**

_My father taking her wings probably would have made her insecure_ , Aurora thought with an inward sigh at the thought of her fairy godmother going through that.

**Argued with my mother too, thought I was mature.**

**But I put my heart aside, and I used my head.**

"Woah, good reflexes Mal!" Rachel exclaimed. "That probably would have hit me in the head!"

"Mom's pulled that move a few times," Mal said with a slight chuckle.

**Now I think it's time you learned what dear old momma said!**

**Don't you want to be evil like me?**

"Uh, no." Chad said, though he was unknowingly giving the same look of shock and confusion the Mal on the screen was.

**Don't you wanna be mean?**

"Audrey has that down pat," Rachel muttered to Lonnie, who bit back a chuckle out of fear of being overheard.

**Don't you wanna make mischief your daily routine?**

**Well you can spend your life attending to the poor.**

**But when you're evil, doing less is doing more!**

"But helping others who need it is one of the best things someone can do!" Carter LeBouf said with a grin.

**Don't you want to be ruthless, and rotten, and mad?**

**Don't you want to be very, very, good at being bad?**

"Mal's none of those thing!" An older teen with dark blonde hair said with a smile toward the younger girl.

"Kiara," a red-haired man whispered.

"What, dad? It's the truth!"

**I have tried my whole life long, to do the worst I can.**

"And you have," Jay nodded.

"Succeed masterfully!" Carlos added.

**Clawed my way to victory, built my master plan.**

**Now the time has come, my dear, for you to take your place.**

Belle frowned as Mal jumped at the scepter being put down next to her. She had grown to like her son's girlfriend over the course of this film and, despite the wand stealing, she was glad the four of them were there.

Seeing someone like Mal, who was always so confident, look scared seemed to raise Belle's parent alarm, as corny as that sounded. Looking over at her husband, and seeing the same frown on his face, Belle knew the same thoughts were running through his head.

**Promise me you'll try to be an an absolute disgrace!**

"Who would want to be a disgrace?" A girl with dark brown hair asked, looking over at a man who, by resemblance, must have been her father.

"Remember Annabel. Being a disgrace is good for a villain," Michael Banks told his daughter in a whisper, hoping the four children from the Isle wouldn't be offended that he was answering for them.

**Don't you wanna be evil like me?**

**Don't you wanna be cruel?**

"What is she doing?" One of the girls in the audience asked, looking slightly disturbed.

"You're better off not knowing," Mal told her.

**Don't you wanna be nasty, and brutal, and cool?**

**And when you grab that wand, that's when your reign begins.**

"Well, that proves this is fake," Evie said with a sigh. "No way would Maleficent let anyone touch her scepter."

"Even her daughter?" Rachel asked causing Mal to laugh.

"I have to prove I deserve my name! How the flying frick could I prove I deserve to look at, let alone touch, her scepter?"

**Who wants an evil queen without a sack of sins?**

**Don't you want to be heartless, and hardened as stone?**

Ben looked over at his girlfriend and realized that it wasn't her—Mal could never be heartless. If she was, people like Evie and Lonnie and heck even himself wouldn't want to be around her.

"Did she just lick her scepter?" Rowyn Fitzherbert asked, looking slightly disturbed.

**Don't you want to be finger lickin' evil to the bone?**

**This is not for us to ponder, this was pre-ordained.**

"She's got a good voice," Ariel muttered. Despite Maleficent being a villain, Ariel could still recognize a good singer when she heard one.

**You and I shall rule together, freedom soon regained.**

All the heroes looked at each other, knowing that a freed Maleficent would be a terrifying thing.

**Mistress of the universe, powerful and strong.**

**Daughter, hear me, help me, join me, won't you sing along?**

**Both:**

**Now we're gonna be evil, it's true, never gonna think twice!**

**Mal:**

**And we're gonna be spiteful!**

Ben couldn't help but lean forward slightly as Mal sang. Yeah, he knew she had a good voice from the song at the beginning but this was something different. The little growl in her voice as she said spiteful made him feel things…things he had only felt when he ate that cookie.

**Maleficent:**

**Yes, spiteful. That's nice!**

"Oh god, your mom's 'nice' voice is disturbing," Carlos shuddered.

**In just an hour or two, our future's safe and sure!**

**This mother-daughter act is going out on tour!**

**If you wanna be evil, and awful, and free!**

**Then you should thank your lucky stars, that you were born the girl you are!**

Mal would never say it out loud but sitting there, surrounded by her friends, she was thanking her lucky stars. Now, if this thing would end and she could get back to the plan, that would be great!

**The daughter of an evilicious queen like me!**

"Evilicious?" Belle asked, looking as if the word pained her to say.

"Mom's a fan of making up words," Mal told her. "Most of the people on the Isle are."

**Evie came back into the door frame. "Hey, I found the wand. Let's go!"**

**Mal looked at Evie and then back at her mother's seemingly still statue, staring at it for a moment as if not believing it had come to life. She shakes it off and joins the others, who stare at the wand, that's being protected by some sort of spell.**

"So….that happened," Emir said with a slightly disturbed look on his face.

"Can we all agree to never speak of that again?" Kiara asked and everyone muttered in agreement.

**"** **Whoo!" Jay cheered and ran downstairs.**

**They all stared at the wand in awe and relief that they had completed part of their mission. Jay stepped forward, looking to grab the wand.**

**"** **Jay, don't!" Mal warned.**

"Too eager," Aladdin muttered.

"He's a kid," Eugene muttered back. "Like he said, there's no power on the Isle. How would he know?"

**Jay smirked and ignored Mal's warning, going in for the wand.**

**"** **Wait, no! No! Don't! Ah!" Mal continued to try and persuade the boy to stop but only the force field surrounding the wand was able to make him pause. Jay's slight touch of the force field was enough to trigger the alarm to go off, waking the guard in the process.**

Most of the adults let out a sigh of relief at the idea that the wand was still safe in the museum.

**"** **A force field and a siren?" Carlos asked, covering his ears.**

**"** **That's just a little excessive," Jay called back.**

"Just a tad," Lonnie said with a chuckle.

**"** **Let's go!" Mal ordered, and the four ran from the room.**

**"** **Hurry!" Evie urged.**

**"** **Come on!"**

**They rushed through the museum to the entrance and made a break for the front door. However, the phone at the guard's desk started to ring. Carlos, the last one out, stopped and answered.**

"No!" Daniel Darling shouted, hoping Carlos didn't get caught.

**"** **Hello? Uh, uh, just give me one second. One second," Carlos typed something in on the keypad that was next to the phone, which turned the alarm off. "Uh, yeah, yeah. No, false alarm. It was a malfunction in the, uh, in the 714 chip in the breadboard circuit," Carlos said quickly, looking at the clipboard on the table to come up with his excuse on the fly. "Yeah, okay. Say hi to the missus."**

"Who were you talking to?" Ben asked, looking at the younger boy.

"That would be me," King Beast said, shooting a smile to the shocked boy. "I honestly thought you were the best security guard we've hired in a long time."

"To be fair, your highness, you did hire Sleepy's nephew," Snow told him. "Falling asleep on the job probably would have been a risk."

"Nice tech lingo," an older girl with brown hair that was pulled back into a pony tail said, giving Carlos a nod.

"Jamie!"

"What dad? You were pretty tech savvy as a kid," Jamie Hawkins said, turning to her dad.

**"** **Carlos!"**

**"** **You're welcome!" Carlos shrugged before running after the others.**

**The four of them ran quickly away from the museum, hoping to avoid being caught.**

**"** **Way to go, Jay! Now we have to go to school tomorrow!" Mal scolded as the four of them ran into the cover of the dark of night.**

"That would be your concern," Evie shook her head.

"Oh really? Ms. Magic Mirror?" Mal shot back. Evie made to respond but the Blue Fairy stopped her.

"Are we ready for another or would we like to stop?" She asked. After that scene at the museum, the last thing she wanted was to make it worse for the four kids.

"Let's keep this moving," Mal said, hoping that the fewer breaks they took, the faster it would be done with.


	7. Chapter 7

**Remedial Goodness 101 Classroom**

**"** **Someone hands you a crying baby. Do you A: curse it?" Fairy Godmother pointed to the board with her pointer and made a dramatic sweep with it. "B: lock it in a tower?" She continued to illustrate the choices with her pointer.**

"So, anyone want to tell me why it looks like the Remedial Goodness 101 classroom is in the study lounge?" Eugene asked, looking at the students in the background with a frown. The last thing those four needed was to feel like they were a goldfish in a bowl.

**The four kids looked on with clear boredom and disinterest.**

**"** **C: give it a bottle?"**

"The obvious choice," someone called out but no one could tell who it was.

**Evie shook her head and mouthed 'no'.**

**"** **Or D: carve out its heart?" Fairy Godmother made a carving motion with her hand.**

"Way to be dramatic, mom," Jane muttered.

**Evie quickly raised her hand with a bright smile on her face.**

**"** **Evie," Fairy Godmother called.**

**"** **What was the second one?" Evie asked. Mal looked over at Evie as if she was joking and went back to sketching a picture of the magic wand.**

"E, I don't get why you pretend to be dumb," Mal sighed. "Besides, the only boys in that classroom were Jay and Carlos. If you're trying to impress them, your standards have seriously dropped."

"Hey!"

"So you want to date Evie?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow at Carlos. That lasted for a minute before the daughter of Maleficent burst out laughing. "Sorry Carlos. I couldn't resist."

"You're evil, you know that!"

"Thank you!"

**"** **Oh, okay. Anyone else?"**

**Mal continued to look down at her paper, something Fairy Godmother seemed to notice as she called on her.**

**"** **Mal?"**

**"** **C: give it a bottle." Mal answered, looking up at Fairy Godmother.**

**"** **Correct. Again." Fairy Godmother smiled.**

Ben couldn't help but beam at the thought of his girlfriend being the one to constantly get the questions right. Not that he had any doubt that Mal was good, but it was nice to have some visual proof in case guys like Chad confronted her and her friends again.

**"** **You are on fire, girl!" Carlos shouted.**

"Looks like she's not entirely bad, mother," Aurora whispered to her mom.

"Hmph, a leopard doesn't change their spots!" Queen Leah whispered back and Aurora had to hold back an eye roll. Maybe it would be a good idea if Audrey skipped her two week vacation to her grandparents house?

**"** **Just pick the one that doesn't sound like any fun," Mal told them, implying it should have been obvious to the others.**

**"** **Oh."**

"Seriously? Carving out a baby's heart would be fun for you?"

"No, because I would never do anything with a baby," Mal shot back. "Be a copy of my mother? I don't think so."

**"** **That makes so much sense," Evie smiled.**

**"** **Oh…" Mal rolled her eyes and went back to her drawing.**

"You have a gift," Rapunzel told the purple haired girl with a smile. She didn't want to say anything, in fear it would embarrass Mal, but she couldn't resist. "I used to love painting the walls of my tower but they were never as detailed as that. Especially after only seeing it for a few minutes."

"I'm sorry," Mal said, sitting up a little. "Did you say you painted the walls of your tower?"

"That's right," Rapunzel nodded.

"I believe you once said 'you should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class'" Mal said, turning to Ben. "Didn't you, Bennyboo?"

Ben coughed, not realizing Rapunzel had done what so many had judged Mal for.

**A girl in a blue dress then walks between their two tables, nervously making her way to the Fairy Godmother.**

"Oh look, Jane's old hair," Audrey muttered to a group of her friends. "God it was hideous."

Sadly, for her, it wasn't as quiet as she thought.

"Give me your phone," Aurora said and the whole room went silent. Audrey's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"What?"

"You heard your mother," Phillip nodded as Aurora stood up and plucked Audrey's phone out of her hand.

"You can have this back when I believe you deserve it," Aurora said, "and no, mother, you won't plead her case."

Audrey couldn't help but be silent—she had never been punished like that before and now it had happened twice.

**"** **Oh. Hello, dear one," Fairy Godmother said softly.**

**"** **Hi. You need to sign off on early dismissal for the coronation," the girl said quickly before glancing back at the four villain kids, a little fear evident in her eyes.**

"I'm sorry, guys," Jane told the four of them.

"Nah, we figured we'd get that," Carlos shrugged. "Honestly, we just thought people would hide it from Fairy Godmother."

"Oh, it's not because you guys were villains. I'm terrified of the popular students," Jane said, causing Mal and Evie to frown.

"Jane, you're the headmistress's daughter," Evie told her. "No one would…"

"E, let's just watch. Besides, we know someone who would. Someone who just had her phone taken away." Mal cut her friend off. Despite having used Jane to get access to the wand, Mal had a small soft spot in her heart for the girl. If Audrey did anything other than mock Jane for her looks, she was going to pay.

**Evie stared off into space, clearly in a daydream while twirling her hair. Mal nudger her to get her to pay attention to what was going on in front of them.**

"Can't get anything past Mal," Jay said with a smirk.

**"** **Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane?" Fairy Godmother explains as she signed the papers Jane had given her.**

**"** **Mom, no!" Jane pleaded.**

**"** **It's okay. Jane, this is everyone," Fairy Godmother smiled and gently pushed Jane forward.**

"Yes, because now she knows who they are," Meg said, rolling her eyes.

**"** **Hi. That's okay, don't mind me. As you were," Jane said nervously and moved past Carlos and Mal, who were sitting closest to the aisle.**

Fairy Godmother frowned at her daughter's behavior. She hadn't realized how timid Jane had been.

**Mal watched from the corner of her eye as Jane left.**

"I smell a plot," Chad muttered.

**"** **Ahem, let's continue," Fairy Godmother jogged back to her spot next to the chalk board and went back to dramatically pointing. "You find a vial of poison. Do you A: put it in the king's wine?"**

**Evie slowly raised her hand, unsure if she wanted to answer or not.**

"I was serious that time," Evie said with a frown. "But mother had warned me that no one liked a smart girl—especially boys."

"Wouldn't boys here like a girl who was the top of her Goodness class though?" Mal asked and couldn't help but chuckle as Evie flushed red.

"Evie, if I may offer a bit of advice?" Rapunzel said. "Screw anyone who says you need to be anything other than yourself."

Evie nodded, the flush still heavy on her cheeks.

**"** **B: paint it on an apple?"**

**Evie and Mal looked at each other and laughed.**

"Maybe I should have come up with a different example," Fairy Godmother admitted, giving a sheepish chuckle. "Evie, I'm sorry if you felt singled out."

"It's alright," Evie said with a smile. "But thank you Fairy Godmother."

**"** **Or C: turn it over to the proper authorities?"**

**Aside from Mal, the rest of the kids shot their hands up into the air, ready to answer.**

"Mal, why didn't you answer?" Aurora asked, causing Mal to freeze for a split second. It was the first time Aurora had addressed her at all and Mal was surprised by the lack of hostility in her voice.

"I was tired from the activities the night before, and I wanted to give someone else a chance to answer," Mal told her.

**"** **Oh! Ooh…get off!" Jay held down Carlos' hand.**

Rodger chuckled and noted that Carlos seemed to lack a malicious bone in his body. He figured his wife was going to ask about summer vacation at some point so he made a mental note to let Anita know that he was on board.

**"** **Jay!" Fairy Godmother called.**

**"** **C: you turn it over to the proper authorities," Jay answered with a smirk.**

**"** **I was going to say that," Carlos grumbled.**

**"** **But I said it first. Come here!" Jay grabbed Carlos and gave him a noogie.**

"They're like brothers," Tiana said with a small smile, leaning against Naveen and rubbing her pregnant stomach. Her two sons, Travis and Nero, behaved similarly and she knew the behavior would only grow once little Tommy grew old enough.

**"** **Ow!" Carlos yelled as Jay pulled him onto the table.**

**"** **Come on, who said it first? Who said it first?!" Jay asked as the two of them began to wrestle.**

**"** **Ow! Stop! Ah!"**

**"** **Boys! Boys! I am going to encourage you to use that energy on the tourney field," Fairy Godmother said.**

"Good idea," Julia said, looking over to her mother. "The classroom is not the best place for that sort of activity."

"Unless it's gym class," Jane told her, thinking about how Tarzan would react with those four and if they would get to see a class with him.

**"** **Oh, no. That's okay. Whatever that is, we'll…we'll pass," Carlos said, trying to avoid joining the extra curricular.**

**The scene changes to a field outside with boys wearing equipment A man had a group of boys surrounding him and was shouting out positions.**

**"** **Jay, Ben, offense. Chad, you're defense. Taylor, you're the shooter," the man yelled positions.**

"Whoo! Coach!" Taylor, Julia's older brother, cheered at the sight of the man who he considered a second father.

**"** **Right, coach!" Taylor said, running to his spot.**

**The coach then notices Carlos, who's looking around all confused.**

"Oh no!" Carlos groaned, fighting the urge to put his head in his hands.

**"** **Hey, hey! Hey you, lost boy! Put your helmet on! Get out of the kill zone! Come on!"**

**"** **Kill zone? Wha…" Carlos asked before walking to one side of the field.**

**"** **Pick it up! Put it on! Two hands!" The coach shouted as Carlos put his helmet on.**

"Poor Carlos," Evie whispered to Mal, bitting back a chuckle.

"He's got Jay to look out for him, though," Mal whispered back. "Jay's aggressive but he'd look out for Carlos."

**"** **Ahh!" Jay yelled as he plowed his way into team members on both sides. He flipped and jumped across the field with the ball in his hands. Jay headed straight toward Carlos, who trembled in front of him.**

**"** **Jay, it's me! It's Carlos! Wait, stop, Jay! Stop! No, no, no, no. No!" Carlos pleaded for his friend to stop before dropping to the ground in fear as Jay jumped over him and scored the goal.**

_I stand mistaken_ , Mal thought, her eyes growing wide at Carlos pleading with Jay. What was Fairy Godmother thinking? Carlos was the smallest boy on that field, he could get killed!

"Oh dear!" Anita gasped, looking over at Carlos.

"I'm sure he's fine," Rodger rubbed his wife's shoulder but also looked over at the young boy. Taking the chance to throw caution to the wind, he leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear. "I'm sure a summer of running around with our pups would help to build some muscle."

Anita whipped her head back toward him so quickly Rodger thought she had snapped her neck.

"Rodger, are you sure?" Anita whispered. "I know how you feel about Cruella."

"Carlos is clearly not his mother's son," Rodger whispered back. "The last thing he needs is to be thrown back to the Isle when school lets out."

Anita gave her husband a quick sideways hug before turning back to the spectacle before them.

**"** **Ahh! Oh yeah! Come on, let's go! Oh! Whoo! Whoo, whoo! Oh, oh!" Jay yelled and cheered, all the while performing a victory dance.**

"Nice one," Emir said with a chuckle.

"Brute strength wins every time on the Isle," Jay told him. "It's why Gaston's son stays around Uma and Harry. He has the muscle even if he doesn't have the brains."

"Harry?"

"Hook's son," Carlos added.

**"** **What just happened? Who is this guy?" The team pried themselves off the ground and made their way over to their coach.**

**"** **You! Get over here," the coach pointed toward Jay. "What do you call that? I call that raw talent. Come find me later, I'll show you something you haven't seen before. It's called a rule book. Welcome to the team, son."**

Aladdin couldn't help but smile at the scene, especially upon seeing how happy his own son was for Jay. Emir seemed to enjoy being around Jafar's son, and other than the stealing and the aggressive nature, Jay seemed to be a pleasant boy.

Now he'd just have to clear it with Jasmine before approaching Belle about where Jay would be spending the summer.

**"** **You ever thought about band" the coach turned and asked Carlos.**

"I've never played an instrument," Carlos said. "There was an old piano we found when I was six—I liked pressing the keys but Uma's gang took it and turned it into seating for her mom's restaurant."

**Carlos faked a laugh while Jay burst out laughing at his friend.**

**"** **I'll work with him, coach," Ben offered.**

"Thanks Ben," Mal said, turning to her boyfriend.

"For what?" Ben asked, looking confused. He would have done it for anybody on the team who was struggling. Mal didn't respond but turned back to the screen.

**"** **All right. Let's run that again!" The coach yelled.**

**"** **Whoo!" The team shouted and made their way back on to the field. Jay turned to leave and Chad stood tall, attempting to act tough. Jay bumped into Chad's shoulder and walked past him. All the while Chad held up his act, but once Jay had left, the prince relaxed and held his arm while mouthing 'ow'.**

A few kids chuckled as "I'm Rotten to the Core" played when Jay walked off.

"I can't wait to see what the next scene has!" Young Tanner O'Malley called out with a smile.

"Tanner," Thomas O'Malley warned. "Inside voice."

"He's just excited," Duchess told him. "I am too. Part of me wonders if Edgar has any family on the Isle."

"Didn't we mail him to Timbuktu?" Thomas asked.

"I'm sure he found a way back," Duchess said, brushing a bit of her platinum blonde hair out of her eyes. A wave of the Blue Fairy's wand held back any future comments from Thomas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chad, Ben, and Audrey walked into the hall, laughing and stood by the lockers. Audrey's laughing while Chad could be heard saying 'I know, I know.' They stopped laughing the second they saw Mal and Evie by Mal's locker.**

**"** **Those kids are trouble," Chad told Ben, pointing Mal out to him.**

**"** **Bye, Mal," Evie waved goodbye to her friend, clearly having overheard Chad's comment.**

"Oh no, how troubling," Rowyn Fitzherbert muttered to her sister, who giggled in response.

**"** **Bye," Mal replied and turned back to her locker.**

**"** **Come on, Chad. Give them a chance," Ben told his friend, turning to face him.**

"You know," Poppy Dennison chimed in. "You guys don't know about the wand stealing business. So why don't you trust them?"

Chad flushed and looked away to avoid answering.

**"** **Oh, no offense, Bennybear, but you're just too trusting!" Audrey said, grabbing his hands.**

_I don't know which was worse: Bennyboo or Bennybear,_ Ben thought with an inward shudder.

**"** **Look, I know your mom feel in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince. But with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy. That girl's mother," she finished, whispering the last bit.**

"Audrey Stephanie," Aurora warned, her tone slightly darker than usual. "I believe an apology is in order."

Audrey glared but bit back the retort. "My apologies, King Beast. Queen Belle."

The aforementioned royals nodded as a sign of acceptance toward the apology but the slight glares on their faces did not soften.

"You're forgetting one," Aurora said and this time Audrey did splutter in shock.

"Oh, and she doesn't have to apologize for eavesdropping on my conversation!"

"You were twenty feet away from her locker," Aurora stated. "Even if she didn't want to, Mal would have heard your conversation. Even with your 'whisper'."

Audrey glared in defiance, causing Aurora to sigh with an air of disappointment.

"Very well, three weeks. Starting as soon as you get home."

"Now dear," Queen Leah tried to steer Aurora toward leniency for Audrey.

"Not. A. Word, mother."

**"** **I think you're wrong about them," Ben said. "I'll see you later."**

**[Ben walked away from the other two, Chad looking confused and Audrey walking in the other direction, and walked toward Mal, meeting her at her locker.]**

**"** **Hey!"**

**Mal closed her locker door to reveal Ben. "Hey."**

"You know, I had my doubts but they don't seem to be causing too much harm," Belle whispered to Beast.

"Even with the whole wand business?"

"I have a feeling Mal'll do the right thing," Belle told him. "Ben seems to have taken from my side in terms of falling in love."

**"** **How was your first day?" Ben asked, a smile gracing his face.**

**"** **Super."**

**"** **You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class," Ben gestured to the spray paint image of Maleficent's silhouette on Mal's locker. "I could, uh, sign you up. What do you think?"**

"I know, I know," Ben chuckled. "It'd take all the fun out of it."

"You know, Mal," Rachel said. "If you want to come over at some point in the summer, mom usually has a painting contest where we paint the craziest things we can on the wall of the dungeons since they're hardly ever used. You'd be awesome at that!"

"Sounds fun," Mal told her with a genuine smile. Art was one of the few things she was proud to be good at and it was actually really freeing to not have to hide it from her mother—since art wasn't 'evil'.

**Jane squeaked and walked past the two. Mal looked over her shoulder at Jane and then turned back to Ben.**

"So, why the squeak?" Mal asked, turning to Jane.

"Nervous habit," Jane told her.

**"** **Way to take all the fun out of it." Mal smirked at Ben before leaving to catch up to Jane.**

**"** **Huh," Ben uttered, putting his back against the locker.**

**The scene changed with Jane in the bathroom as Mal walked in, her eyes widened.**

"No one uses that bathroom," Jane explained. "It's the closest to the faculty lounge."

"Ah," Mal nodded. "That explains why no one else came in while we were talking."

**"** **Hi! It's Jane, right?" Mal asked, smiling at the other girl. "Ah, always loved that name, Jane."**

"You're welcomed to it," Jane Darling muttered under her breath. Yes, she was fond of her name but there were too many Jane's in Auradon.

**"** **That's cool," Jane said, obviously trying to leave.**

**"** **Don't go!" Mal said, louder than she would have liked. "I guess I was just kind of hoping to make a friend. You probably have all the friends you need though, huh?"**

A few girls winced at that. They hadn't been the nicest to Jane and they hadn't thought how the young fairy would have taken that.

"She's good," Jasmine whispered. She knew Mal was still after the wand but it was a better plan than just going to the museum.

**"** **Hardly."**

Fairy Godmother frowned at that. Jane was one of the smartest, nicest girls she knew. Surely people were clamoring to be her daughter's friend?

**"** **Really? I mean, with your mom being Fairy Godmother and headmistress? I mean, not to mention your own, um, personality," Mal stumbled over the words, finding it hard to get out the complements.**

"I am not used to giving complements," Mal said upon realizing many eyes were locked on her. "On the Isle, if it wasn't peppered with little insults, people thought you were weak."

"And by people, she means our parents," Evie added.

**"** **I'd rather be pretty. You've got great hair," Jane said.**

**"** **You know what? I have just the thing for that," Mal pulled out her mother's spell book and skimmed through it. "It's right…ah! Here. Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand new hair." Mal closed the book and then made a gesture with her finger as Jane's head followed the path.**

"Um, hold up," Kristoff said with a raised eyebrow. "Maleficent's spell book has a spell for hair?"

"Yeah," Mal nodded.

"Why?"

**"** **Oh, ah, ah!" Jane gasped.**

**When Jane brought her head back up, her hair changed before their eyes, and became longer with a hint of curl at the end.**

Fairy Godmother sighed. While she wasn't happy about Mal using magic on her daughter, she couldn't deny that Jane looked stunning with that hair.

**"** **Wow! You almost don't notice your…other features anymore," Mal smiled, looking at the other girl in the bathroom mirror. Jane looked stunned and slowly turned to Mal.**

"What other features?" Carlos muttered. "Once you did the hair, she went from an 9 to a 10."

Anita put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile, having heard Carlos' mutter. The young De Vill was not as quiet as he thought he was.

**"** **Do my nose!" Jane said excitedly, pointing to the book.**

Fairy Godmother sighed once more. This is why she steered away from using magic, so her daughter wouldn't think that magic was the solution for everything.

**"** **Oh I can't. I've been practicing, but you know, I can't really do really big magic. Not like your mom with her wand. I mean, one swoosh from that thing and you could probably have whatever features you wanted," Mal said, making her way over to the sink and hopping up onto it.**

"I think Jane was just insulted," Scamp whispered to Angel, brushing a bit of his grey hair out of his eyes.

"I think that's Mal's idea," Angel whispered back, leaning her head on his shoulder.

**"** **She doesn't use the wand anymore," Jane said sadly. "She believes real magic is in the books, and not the spell books. Regular books with history and stuff."**

"Then why not set up a magic damping barrier like you did for the Isle?" Carlos asked. "That way, no one gets magic and everyone's happy."

"I'll have to look into that," Fairy Godmother said with a smile.

**"** **What a rip," Mal stated. "Yeah. You know, she used magic on Cinderella, who wasn't even her real daughter. Doesn't she love you?"**

"That was a low blow," Evie whispered to Mal.

"You think I don't know that? We spend our days wondering if our own parents love us, I was not a fan of putting that doubt in Jane," Mal whispered back.

**"** **Well, of course she does. It's…it's just, you know, tough love. Work on the inside, not the outside. You know, that sort of thing," Jane said, looking down with sad eyes.**

Fairy Godmother sighed in relief. At least she had conveyed to Jane that she loved her and her daughter didn't fall for Mal's trick.

**"** **That's the face!" Mal exclaimed.**

A few students jumped at Mal's sudden exclamation.

"What face?" Evan asked.

**"** **Yeah, and then just look as if your…year heart is about to break. 'Oh mother, I just don't understand why you can't make me beautiful too?"**

"Oh!"

"If it were anyone else, I'd say that would do it," Kitty Charming, Chad's younger sister, said with a chuckle. "But Fairy Godmother's a tough nut to crack."

**"** **Think it would work?"**

**"** **Yeah, I mean that's what old Cindy did, right?**

"Old Cindy," Cinderella chuckled. "I like it."

"Mal does seem to find ways of making us realize we're humans," her husband nodded, keeping his voice down in case someone found fault in what he was saying.

"Kit, it's not that," Cinderella sighed. "Having to watch what I said all the time around my step mother, I have to admire Mal's frankness."

"Thinking about your step mother and her daughters?" Kit asked, rubbing his wife's shoulder.

"Yes," Cinderella nodded. "I know why Ben denied my request for the offspring of either of Drizella or Anastasia, if they exist, since he didn't want to be seen showing favoritism, but I wish they could have been brought with the four."

"There's always the next batch," Kit told her with a smile.

**And your mom Bibbidi-bobbidi-booed the living daylights out of her. And, hey, if your mom does decide to, you know, break out the old wand, invite me!"**

"You know, young fairies are supposed to be around sources of magical power to help them harness theirs," Jane said. "Since you were on the Isle, it probably helped that your mom somehow got her scepter."

**"** **If I can convince mom, you are so there," Jane promised.**

**"** **Yay," Mal said, giving a little clap with her hands.**

Carlos and Jay couldn't help but chuckle at that. It was so not-Mal.

**"** **Bye," Jane said and left the bathroom.**

**"** **Bye," Mal waved back to the other girl.**

"So why didn't you leave the bathroom after that?"

"I had to use it," Mal said with a shrug.

**The scene changed to a classroom where Evie sat in what looked to be a science class talking to Doug while staring at a very attractive young man.**

**"** **Any chance he's in line for a throne? Anywhere in line?" Evie asked.**

"Hey Chad, are you in line for a throne," Kitty giggled.

"Shut it."

"Chad, watch your tone around your sister," Kit warned.

**"** **Chad. Prince Charming Jr. Cinderella's son?" Doug asked and looked over at Evie, who perked up upon hearing Cinderella.**

"Why did you perk up at Cinderella?" Jamie asked.

"Safer than a son of Snow White," Evie told her. "Mother probably would be furious that I even considered it."

**"** **Chad inherited the charm, but not a lot of there, there, know what I mean?"**

"Hey!"

"Don't make me bring up the homework thing again," Mal told him and then turned to Fairy Godmother. "How did you guys not realize that his homework had different style of handwriting every time?"

"We didn't look that closely," Fairy Godmother told her. "Now we will."

**"** **Looks like there, there to me," Evie said, staring at Chad dreamily.**

Chad couldn't help but feel a little bad at that. From what they had seen, the Isle was a horrible place—it would make sense why someone as comfort driven as Evie would want to live with a prince.

He wasn't saying that he could trust any of them, but he did feel a tad guilty about stringing Evie along and then going out with Audrey.

Oh, bibbidi, his mother was going to kill him when that moment came.

**"** **Evie, perhaps this is just review for you. So tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?" The teacher came over and interrupted the conversation.**

"It wasn't review," Evie said. "I've never paid attention in class though. Mother always said that boys don't like smart girls."

"And I always told you that your mother is full of crap and a dumb girl wouldn't survive ten minutes on the Isle," Mal told her.

**"** **Atomic weight? Uh, well, not very much. I mean it's an atom right?" Evie asked, smiling at the teacher who motioned for her to come over to the chalkboard.**

A few kids chuckled at Evie's joke, knowing the fear of not knowing the answer when brought to the chalkboard.

**Evie got up and quickly grabbed her mirror out of her purse before going up to the chalkboard.**

"I'm going to let this bit of cheating slide," Fairy Godmother told her. "If only because your teacher should have double checked the curriculum of the Isle schools and made sure that—"

"Oh, we didn't have chemistry in our old school," Mal told her. "You really wanted villain kids in a room with chemicals that could blow stuff up?"

**"** **Let's see, how do I find the average atomic weight of silver?" Evie asked, posing the question as if she was thinking out loud but one glance at her free hand showed the mirror hidden away from the eyes of the teacher. "That would be 106.905 times .5200 plus 108.905 times. 4800, which, Mr. Delay, would give us 107.9 amu," Evie finished, looking up at the teacher instead of the mirror.**

"That explains amu," Doug said with a chuckle. "Normally we say A.M.U or Atomic Mass Unit."

**Chad could be seen writing something down.**

"Chad's taking notes?" Kitty gasped.

**"Amu?" Doug questioned.**

**"** **I forget. Always a mistake to underestimate—"**

"If he says a woman, I'm going to find a way to punch him through the screen," Mulan muttered to Shang.

**"** **A villain? Don't make it again," Evie cut off the teacher's statement and threw him the chalk she had been using. She walked by Chad, who hands her a note which causes Evie to smile.**

Mal couldn't help but glare softly at that, knowing the pain Chad would cause her friend.

"Wasn't that the girl you said was trouble?" Poppy asked Chad, her arms folded over her chest.

**Upon returning to her seat, Evie opens the note, which says 'Meet me under the bleachers at 3?'.**

"Wait hold on," Kitty said. "Chad wrote that note with a highlighter but the ink on that note is blue." 

**Evie looks up and smiles, causing Doug to look off in disgust as Chad and Evie stare longingly at each other.**

"Doug looks so done," Kiara chuckled.

"Wouldn't you be done too if you were around people gazing into each other eyes?" Kovu asked.

"Considering you spend most of your time staring into my sister's eyes, I don't think you have room to talk," Kion said, rolling his eyes as Kovu stuck out his tongue.

"Wait, you're dating my sister?" Kopa asked, looking at his little sister in concern.

"Honestly Kopa, you've been out of school for two years," Kiara told him. "Who I date is not your concern!"

"Does Dad know?"

"Yes! And dad likes Kovu," Kiara added. "And thanks Kion for telling him. I just really wanted an overprotective big brother experience today."

"You're welcome!"


	9. Chapter 9

**"Okay, Carlos. We're going to do some sprints, you ready?" Ben called over to the other boy after writing something down on a clipboard and Carlos nodded, getting into position.**

**Right after Ben hit the timer, a dog barked in the background. Carlos could be seen running from a small dog.**

"Oh no!" Evie gasped. "Ben, you better be a fast runner!"

"Why?" Ben asked.

"Gil once pretended to be a dog to scare Carlos when he was eight," Mal explained. "Carlos ran all the way to the other end of the Isle before anyone caught up with him."

**"Oh! Ah! No, wait!" Carlos screamed, running away from the dog.**

**"Sweet!" Ben shouted, pressing time on the timer, not realizing the reason for Carlos' speed.**

"That's on me," Ben said, sighing. "I didn't notice Dude."

"Or hear the screaming?" Lonnie asked.

**"No! Ah!" Carlos shouted, continuing to run from the dog.**

**Ben spun around and realized what was going on. "Carlos? Carlos!"**

"Took you long enough," Emir muttered. He liked Carlos, though he often felt like the younger boy didn't have the right body type for Tourney. Being so small, he'd get squashed for sure.

**Ben sprinted after the younger boy, throwing the clipboard on the ground and following them into the wooded area. Carlos continued to run before jumping onto a tree, climbing up a bit to make some distance between him and the dog.**

**"No, stop!" He shouted, the dog barking at him from the ground.**

"Dude wasn't going to do anything, were you boy?" Carlos said, flushing a little at his past phobia. Dude barked in response and licked Carlos' hand, causing Rodger and Anita to smile softly at the sight.

**"Carlos!" Ben called out, trying to catch up to them.**

**"Ben? Ben?"**

**"Whoa-whoa-whoa!"**

**"Ben, help me!" Carlos shouted as Ben came into the clearing. Seeing the younger boy clearly afraid, Ben used his arm to cause the dog to back away from Carlos and then picked up the dog. "This thing is a killer! He's going to chase me down and rip out my throat! This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!"**

**"Hey, who told you that?" Ben asked, surprised by the younger boy's fear.**

**"My mother," Carlos said, his tone implying it should have been obvious to the future king.**

Anita sighed and shook her head. She couldn't imagine how her old friend could have turned into such a creature that she would willingly cause a young boy to become afraid of dogs.

**"Cruella?" Ben asked, slightly shocked.**

"No, Mary Poppins. Who did you think?" Mal asked, turning to her boyfriend.

"It was a lot of information," Ben told her, chuckling at the slight smirk on her face.

**"She's a dog expert. A dog yellerer."**

"Yellerer?" Belle asked slowly.

"Remember what I told you earlier, your majesty?" Mal asked. "We on the Isle love to make up words."

**"Why are you holding him? He's going to attack you!" Carlos shouted, slightly hugging the tree in fear.**

"But it's Dude!" Georgie Banks called out with a smile. "The most he can do is attack you with kisses!"

**"Carlos, you've never actually met a dog, have you?"**

"Do Sykes' dobermans count?" Carlos asked.

"Those things are still alive?!" Jenny asked in shock. Mal looked over at her.

"My mother took a sword to the stomach and yet, clearly, she's still alive. Why does this surprise you?"

**"Of course not," Carlos told him, again implying it should have been obvious. Ben sighed but looked down at the dog.**

**"Dude, meet Carlos. Carlos, this is Dude. He's the campus mutt."**

"Why do we have a campus mutt in the first place?" Evan asked.

"I don't think we have one anymore," Rachel said with a giggle. "Dude's Carlos'. Everyone knows that."

**"He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal," Carlos said, slowly getting down from the tree. "Jeez, you're a good boy aren't you? You're a good boy." Carlos said as Ben hands Dude over to him so that Carlos is holding him.**

**"I guess you guys have it pretty rough on the island."**

Four pairs of eyes looked over at Ben and Ben flushed as he read the expression on all four of the VK's faces. It clearly read: No shit, Sherlock.

**"Yeah, let's just say we don't get a lot of belly rubs." Carlos told him, looking back at Dude.**

"Makes me feel bad for some of the kids you know don't belong on the Isle," Evie sighed.

"We'll get Dizzy out of there," Mal promised, knowing who Evie was talking about.

"Dizzy?" Ben asked, having overheard. Of course, he was sitting right next to Mal so he would have no choice but to overhear.

"Drizella's daughter," Mal told him, catching Cinderella's attention.

"She's the sweetest thing, Ben," Evie told him. "Imagine me but younger with frizzy red hair, thick glasses and enough energy to power whatever you could think of ten times over."

"Red hair sounds more like Anastasia," Cinderella said, flushing slightly as Mal looked over at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"It's fine," Evie said with a smile which faded slightly as she thought about Dizzy once more. "Drizella can't have biological kids, but Anastasia can. She acted as her sister's surrogate at Lady Tremaine's orders."

Cinderella gasped at the thought of not getting to raise the child you brought into this world and felt a pang of sadness for her step sister. She was never close to Anastasia but when they were first growing up, she was the only one who offered any condolences upon the death of her father.

**"Good boy. I mean, you're a good runner. You're…you're fast, you know?" Ben told him.**

"Way to make it awkward," Julia muttered, biting back a chuckle. It wouldn't be good to seen laughing at the future king.

**"Oh, yeah. Thank you."**

**"Yeah, listen I'm going to give you guys some space, yeah? You guys get to know each other and just, you know, come find me when you're done, okay?"**

"Oh yes, just leave a child of a villain out alone in a forest," Mal sighed. "Especially the child of Cruella with a dog. Any passerby could have done anything to Carlos."

"Mal, it was fine," Carlos told her. "Sides, I'm a fast runner remember?"

"It takes one tree root to trip you up," Mal told him, arms crossed. She hated looking weak in front of the people of Auradon but Carlos was like the baby brother she never had. With everything that happened with Cruella, Mal knew that it was up to her and Evie and Jay to protect him. Well, and Ben too, she figured. As long as she was dating Ben, all of her friends would fall under his protection.

She hoped.

**"Okay."**

**"I'll see you later," Ben said, turning to leave.**

**"See you out there," Carlos told him and then sat down with Dude on his lap.**

"Aww," Anita sighed. How she wished she could have had children of her own.

"He's going to have a ball with our Dalmatians," Rodger whispered, smiling at the sight.

"Let's not get our hopes up," Anita told him. "Belle might say no."

**[The scene changes to the bleachers, where Evie and Chad can be seen. Chad helps Evie duck her head to avoid hitting it on the bleachers.]**

**"Hi," Chad said.**

**"Hi, oh thank you!"**

**"Is everybody at home as pretty as you?"**

"But I thought she was trouble?" Poppy asked, smirking at the prince. She had to admit, the kind tone to his voice was jarring considering how Chad had been treating the VKs.

**"I like to think I'm the fairest of them all. How many rooms are in your castle?"**

**"Oh, too many to count."**

**Evie leaned into Chad, attempting to kiss him.**

**"You really nailed that chemistry problem today," Chad said, interrupting her attempt to kiss. "You're going to have all the nerds in love with you."**

Doug flushed at the statement—he did have strong feelings for Evie. How could he not? She was beautiful and smart, a rare combination in Auradon. Well maybe that was too mean but if Audrey was any example, you could see Doug's point.

"Have a crush?" Snow White leaned over and whispered in his ear. Doug whipped his head around and stared at her in shock.

"Don't worry," Snow told him. "It's not obvious—and I won't tell your family. But you should follow your heart, Doug. She seems like a good girl."

"But she was raised by the Evil Queen," Doug told her. "How do I know Evie won't be the same?"

"You'll never know unless you go for it," Snow told him. "As for the Evil Queen part? I was raised by her too, if you need someone as an example."

Doug flushed once more, realizing how deep he had put his foot.

**"I'm not that smart," Evie insisted.**

"Really?" Mal sighed. "Stop putting yourself down for boys, E. Especially boys like Chad."

**"Oh, come on."**

_That doesn't sound too bad,_ Cinderella thought, looking at her son. It sounded like Chad was trying to build Evie up, not knock her down. But from what she had seen, she knew the other shoe was going to drop.

**"No, really I'm not. But I'm really good at sewing, cooking and cleaning. You know, like your mother, Cinderella, without the ratty dress."**

"I am so sorry," Evie said, turning over to Cinderella.

"It's perfectly alright, dear," Cinderella told her. "The first dress was a little ratty but the one Fairy Godmother gave me was beautiful."

"It had good bones, my dear," Fairy Godmother said with a smile.

**"See this?" Evie held her magic mirror out in front of her. "If I ask it where something is, it tells me."**

"Why?" Mal groaned. "Why would you show him your mirror?"

"I don't know," Evie told her.

**"Are you kidding me?" Chad asked.**

**"No."**

**"Where's my cell phone?" He asked the mirror, holding it up to his ear after grabbing it from Evie's hand.**

"You lost another phone?" Kitty sighed.

"No," Chad told her. "It was in my hamper."

"Ugh! Dad, just get him a new phone," Kitty shuddered. "That current phone probably reeks."

**"It won't work for you silly," Evie told him with a smile.**

**"No biggie. My dad will just get me a new one."**

"You're lucky you found your phone, Chad," Kit told him. "After seeing this, you'd be without a phone for a while."

**"Prince Charming," Evie sighed.**

**"Yeah."**

**"And Cinderella."**

**"Yeah."**

**"Fairy Godmother. Hey, I heard her wand is in some boring museum. Do they always leave it there?" They lean in, looking like they're about to kiss, but Chad turns away sighing.**

"Smooth, E," Mal smirked. She hadn't realized that her friend was just as focused on the wand heist as she was—Mal thought all Evie cared about was boys.

**"I'd really like to talk, but I'm just swamped! Unless…" Chad turned back to face Evie.**

**"Unless?"**

"Chad Charming, don't you dare!" Cinderella warned.

**"If you could knock out all my homework along with yours, then maybe we could get together sometime and hang."**

**"Okay."**

**"Thanks babe."**

"How many girls have you done this to?" Cinderella asked, hardly believing what she was seeing. Yes, Mal and Evie told her earlier but to see it in front of her…

"About half the girls at school," Kitty told her mother as Chad was too busy trying to avoid looking at Cinderella. "I can't tell you how many friends I've lost because I'm Chad's sister."

"Chad, you will redo all the work you've had others turn in for you," Cinderella told her son.

"What? Why? It's already done!" Chad shouted, hardly believing his mother.

"But you don't know how to do it," Kit told his son. "How can you govern a kingdom if you don't know anything because you had others do the work for you?"

"You can spend your first two weeks of your summer vacation on it, because you'll be grounded," Cinderella told him. "Only phone usage will be calling a friend if you need help on the homework."

"Good luck trying to find someone," Kitty taunted her brother, knowing all of his friends took lavish trips the first two weeks of summer vacation.

**"Yeah, bye," Evie watched dreamily as Chad walked away. Doug poked his head through the risers of the bleachers.**

**"I couldn't help but overhear…."**

**"Are you stalking me?" Evie asked as Doug hopped down.**

"Right to the point," Mulan chuckled.

**"Technically, yes. I too have a fascination with Fairy Godmother's wand. Which is another reason why I look forward to coronation. Perhaps we could sit next to each other and discuss its attributes?"**

"Aww!" Shelby, Sneezy's daughter, sighed. She was so happy for her cousin, and thought he and Evie would make the cutest couple.

**"Are you saying they use it in the coronation?" Evie asked.**

**"Yes, and asking you out?"**

**Evie smiles and then walks away from Doug.**

_No response is better than a no_ , Shelby thought, looking over at her younger cousin. _Evie better not break Doug's heart, or she'll have the rest of the family to deal with._

**The scene changes showing Mal and Evie's room with Jane talking to Mal.**

**"Mom said 'If a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it'. Can you believe it? What world does she live in?" Jane asked, plopping on the free bed.**

**"Auradon," Mal scoffed.**

"We're not that bad," Audrey scoffed.

"Aren't you the one who was complaining to me about all the girls getting their hair done by Mal because you wouldn't stand out anymore?" Ben asked.

"Bennyboo!"

"Will you cut it out with the nickname?" Ben groaned. "We are not together anymore!"

"But…you let Mal say it!" Audrey whined, close to tears.

"When Mal says it, it's teasing," Ben told her. "Besides, she doesn't say it almost every time she says my name."

**"Mal, do you like?" Evie asked, holding up an outfit she had been working on at her sewing machine.**

"You know, Evie," Rapunzel said. "I have a few mannequins I'm no longer using—royal duties take so much time out of the day. Would you like to have them?"

"You used to sew?" Evie asked, shocked.

"Locked inside a tower, you need all the activities you can get to distract yourself," Rapunzel said with a sad smile. "Now, about the mannequins?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Evie nodded. "Thank you so much your majesty!"

"Anything I can do for my daughter's friends," Rapunzel said with a brighter smile, unknowingly causing Evie and Mal to relax. The last thing they wanted was pity because of who they were.

**"Yeah, it's cute. Brings out your eyes," Mal told her, looking up from whatever she was sketching.**

**"I know!"**

"What were you drawing?" Ben asked.

"Just a sketch," Mal told him.

**"I'll never get a boyfriend," Jane complained.**

**"Boyfriends are overrated," Mal told her, turning back to her drawing.**

**"And would you know, Mal? You've never had one," Evie told her.**

Ben couldn't help but smile at the thought that he was her first boyfriend. There was something special about the idea of being someone's first.

**"It's because I don't need one, E. They're a waste of time."**

"You say that now," Evie said with a coy smile.

**As if reminded of something, Evie gasped. "I forgot to do Chad's homework! Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no!"**

"What about your homework?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, that was done a while ago," Evie told her. "Stress causes wrinkles so I always got my homework out of the way as soon as I got home."

Chad, meanwhile, was avoiding the stern looks his mother and father were sending his way.

**"And that is exactly what I mean," Mal said as a girl came in after knocking on the open door.**

**"Hey guys! I'm Lonnie! My mom's Mulan?"**

"We knew who your mom was," Evie said with a smile.

"Yeah, Mulan's one of the few heroes we like over on the Isle," Mal said with a chuckle. "Breaking one of the biggest rules there is? Major respect."

"Only one who doesn't like her is Shan-Yu's daughter," Evie finished. "But that's to be expected, honestly."

Mulan flushed at the idea that dressing up like a man to join the army would have been something the villain kids would have admired.

**"No? Anyway, I love what you've done with Jane's hair. And I know you hate us and well you're evil but do you think you could do mine?"**

**"Why would I do that for you?" Mal asked, looking up from her drawing.**

"It wasn't so much I didn't want to and more the fact that I just met her," Mal explained. "Magic takes a lot out of you when you're not used to it and I was still worn out after Jane's make over."

"Oh dear," Fairy Godmother gasped. "Did your mother not…"

"Mom couldn't use her magic so she couldn't teach me about mine," Mal said. "She thought like all of us that we weren't getting off the Isle. No need to get my hopes up over something that wasn't going to happen."

**"I'll pay you 50 dollars," Lonnie told her, holding up a small bag that sounded like it held coins.**

"Lonnie!" Mulan exclaimed. "That money was for emergencies!"

"Sorry, mom," Lonnie said with a sheepish smile.

**"Good answer," Evie told her, getting up from the desk. "Let's see, I'm thinking we lose the bangs, maybe some layers and some highlights."**

"You spent too much time around Dizzy," Mal chuckled. "Sometimes I think your brains are connected."

**"I want it cool, like Mal's," Lonnie said.**

**"Really? The split ends too?" Evie asked while Mal shot her a look.**

"I will never understand girls," Carlos muttered. Yeah, Evie may have had better hair but there wasn't anything wrong with Mal's hair. The experience of dealing with his mother's hair every day taught him that.

**"Fine," Mal sighed and rolled off the bed to grab the spellbook. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with cool hair."**

**Using the same motion with her finger that she had done with Jane's hair, Mal waved her finger over Lonnie's face. Lonnie's hair changed from a dark bob to light brown locks cascading down her face. She went to go look in the mirror.**

"You do look beautiful," Mulan said with a smile.

"You're not mad?" Lonnie asked.

"Are you happy? Did it cause you harm? Did it cause others harm?"

"Yes. No. No."

"Then of course I'm not mad," Mulan told her daughter.

**Evie followed behind and rested her hands on the girl's shoulders. "I know, I know, it looks like a mop on your head," Evie said when Lonnie didn't say anything. "You know what, let's cut off, layer it—"**

"What is with your obsession with cutting hair?" Henry Turner groaned.

**"No, no, no, no, no, no! I love it!" Lonnie said, cutting Evie off.**

**"You do?" Evie asked, looking as though she didn't approve.**

"Dizzy doesn't use magic for her hair," Evie said.

" _Dizzy_ is trapped on an Isle surrounded by a magic barrier that doesn't allow magic to be used," Mal shot back. "Also, Dizzy doesn't have magic!"

"Oh, right."

**"It's just…" Lonnie paused and took hold of her skirt before ripping the end, creating a slit. "Now I'm cool."**

"How does that make her cool?" Evan whispered to Emir.

"Dude, I have no idea," Emir whispered back.

**Jane looked at her in shock and Evie smirked.**

**"Like ice," Mal said with a grin.**

**Jane walked up to the mirror and stood beside Lonnie before ripping the end of her dress as well. Lonnie looked at her in disbelief.**

"Jane!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed. "I was wondering where that dress went to!"

"Mom, I own about fifty copies of the same dress. How can you tell them apart?" Jane asked, slightly confused.

**Jane covered her mouth in shock, as if hit with a realization of what she'd just done. "What did I just do? Mom's going to kill me!"**

**The other three girls just smiled.**

The screen paused as the door to the left of the screen opened, causing some to jump in surprise. Everyone seemed to relax though as a tall woman strode into the room, her hand holding an umbrella.

"Mary Poppins!" Annabelle Banks shouted in glee.

"Yes hello Annabelle," Mary Poppins said with a small smile. Turning to the Blue Fairy, she said, "I'm so sorry for being late. I had to pick something up."

Turning back to the open door, she called, "Come along dear. Spit spot!"

Mal and Evie looked over at the door and gasped as they saw a familiar looking girl looking around the room in awe.

"Dizzy?" Evie gasped.

"Evie!" Dizzy shouted and ran into the arms of the blue haired girl. Evie hugged Dizzy close to her, as if letting go of the girl would be like letting go of a floatation device in the middle of the ocean.

"I think this is as good of a spot as any to take a break," Blue Fairy said, waving her wand once more to provide additional snacks.


	10. Chapter 10

Mal couldn't help but smile at Evie and Dizzy's hug; though if Evie tightened her grip any more, Dizzy would have to go without oxygen.

"Okay E, E!" Mal said after a few minutes. "Let Dizzy go. Poor girl probably needs to breathe."

"Oh!" Evie gasped and released Dizzy. "I'm so sorry Dizzy. I was just so happy to see you!"

Dizzy smiled, seemingly unaffected by the long hug, and then turned to Mal to give her a hug as well. "I can't believe I'm off the Isle!"

"Yes, how is that?" King Beast asked, looking at Mary Poppins as he had heard the younger girl's exclamation. No one asked how that was possible, despite the King sitting far away from the younger girl as Dizzy had been quite exuberant in her exclamation.

"One thing you need to know, your majesty," Mary Poppins told him, a slightly stern look on her face. "I never explain anything."

Beast sighed and looked over at his wife, who shrugged. "Alright. But next time, please warn us before you bring someone over from the Isle. This time it was a young child."

"Your majesty, I promise. I would never bring anyone who would harm Auradon," Mary Poppins told him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must see to the Banks children."

Beast nodded and Mary Poppins walked off, only to be greeted by three hugs from Annabelle, Georgie, and John.

"So, did Mary Poppins tell you how she smuggled you off the Isle?" Mal asked Dizzy, having heard the conversation between Mary Poppins and King Beast.

"All she said was 'anything is possible, even the impossible'," Dizzy told her, the young girl's megawatt smile never fading. "She somehow got permission from mom as well, which I found more impossible than getting me off the Isle."

Ben couldn't help but smile at Mal and Evie's interaction with the younger girl. Somehow, when he pictured the Isle kids interactions with younger children, it wasn't like the way he had in front of him. He went to clear his throat to introduce himself to Dizzy, but found that he was called over by Cinderella, Kit having been called away by a message regarding their youngest daughter, Alexandra.

"Your majesty," Ben said, bowing at the older royal. "How can I help you?"

Cinderella sighed. "Ben, is that truly Drizella's daughter over there?"

"From what Mal's told me," Ben told her. "Why?"

"I want to introduce myself," Cinderella explained. "I just don't know how much Drizella has told her about me—and how much of it is fiction."

Ben nodded, understanding the dilemma. "Your majesty, if I may? Why don't you wait for her to come to you? Fresh off the Isle, it might be overwhelming for the young girl to meet a long lost family member."

"You're right," Cinderella said with a nod, though the disappointment was evident on her face.

Meanwhile, Anita had managed to find Queen Belle once more with the help of Aladdin. The former street rat had walked away when Anita managed to get the queen's attention, and was in the middle of a quiet conversation with his spouse.

"Ah, Anita!" Belle said with a smile. "I hadn't forgotten that there was something you wanted to ask me."

Anita nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I had a question about the Isle children, specifically Carlos."

Belle frowned slightly, fearful as to the direction the conversation was going to go. Out of all the Isle children, Carlos was one she and her husband had a slight soft spot for—though it might have been due to his mother's lack of magic. Their dealings with the enchanted rose made Belle and Beast slightly uneasy at the thought of dealing with magic.

"Well, I was wondering," Anita continued as Belle didn't respond to the previous statement. "I was wondering where the Isle children would be staying over the summer."

"Oh!" Belle exclaimed, the smile back on her face as she realized that this would not be an awkward conversation at all. "You know what, I don't exactly know. Ben was the one who thought it up, I only learned about it when he told his father and me about his proclamation. Why don't I call him over?"

Anita nodded and waited for the prince to walk over, Rodger having made his way over to her side.

"Yes mom?" Ben asked, nodding in greeting to Anita and Rodger.

"Ben, dear, where will the children of the Isle go during the summer holidays?" Belle asked. Ben furrowed his brow in thought.

"I had assumed back to the Isle," Ben told his mother. "We all go home for the summer holidays and they consider the Isle their home."

"But if someone from Auradon wanted to sponsor a child from the Isle, could they?" Anita asked and Ben smiled at the thought of at least some of the citizens of Auradon getting used to and growing to like the children of the Isle.

"It would be up to the child in question," Ben told her. "I'm not going to rip children from their parents if they want to return."

Anita nodded, understanding that some parents on the Isle might want to see their children again. "But if the child agrees?"

"We can set something up," Ben nodded. "Anita, if it's any help, Carlos would probably jump at the chance to stay with you guys."

Anita flushed. "How—"

"Lucky guess," Ben told her with a smile before giving a slight bow and walked back to Mal and the others. Anita turned to Belle, who gave her another smile.

"At some point, you will have to talk to Carlos," Belle told them, a serious tone slipping into her voice despite the smile that still graced her features. "I won't sanction a sponsorship without the child's permission—even if Carlos' legal guardian is abhorrent. But of course I would never say that."

"Cruella has probably poisoned him against us," Rodger said with a frown. "Would he want to speak to us?"

"You'll never know unless you ask," Belle told them with a kind smile. Unbeknownst to them, Carlos had noticed the conversation.

"Hey Mal? What do you think the Radcliffes are talking about with Queen Belle?" Carlos asked, leaning over to Mal to avoid anyone else overhearing. Mal looked over and frowned slightly at the sight. They all knew that they would have the heroes that faced off against their parents in the room with them, but to see two of them talking to Queen Belle raised alarm bells in Mal's head.

"Probably just asking for help at caring for their abundance of Dalmatians," Mal told him, trying to keep a calm tone as to not worry the younger boy, and couldn't help but smile at the lack of fear in Carlos' eyes at the mention of dogs. "You know, they probably could use a pair of big, strong hands to help them out over the summer."

They all knew that Carlos would not survive going back to the Isle after the taste of freedom from his mother and none of them knew what the plans would be for summer. Even though Mal would hate to split up the gang, it would be the best thing for Carlos to stay in Auradon.

"Then why don't they ask Jay?" Carlos asked and Mal chuckled. The chuckle froze when she saw Hercules walk past. Mal hadn't even realized the Demi-god was in the room with them, despite having heard Meg's comments once or twice.

"Mal?" Carlos asked, slightly confused at his best friend's change in mood but Mal had quickly gotten up and dragged Evie over to a corner.

"What is wrong with you?" Evie groaned, rubbing the spot on her arm that Mal had grabbed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Mal exclaimed. "Hercules is here!"

"Are you sure?" Evie asked, all annoyance forgotten.

"Considering I saw the big lummox walk past me, yes I'm sure!" Mal hissed, rubbing her temples. It was bad enough being in the same room as Aurora, not knowing when the other shoe would drop with her. But Hercules was not quiet about how he felt about Hades—her father. She honestly didn't know how she could face her cousin, even if no one but Evie knew they were related.

"Calm down," Evie told her, putting her hands on Mal's shoulders. "No one but me knows who your father is. I would never tell anyone without you telling me I could."

"I know, Evie," Mal gave her friend a smile. "But—"

"No buts," Evie said. "You are Mal. You are amazing and powerful and no one can take that away from you. If anyone gives you grief for being yourself, point them to me."

Mal chuckled at the idea of Evie doing anything unlady like but gave her best friend a quick hug. "What would I do without you?"

"Probably go unmosturized and flat haired," Evie shrugged. "Come on, we're probably getting some looks. People are going to assume we're plotting."

"But I like plotting," Mal said with a smirk and wrapped her arm around Evie's shoulders. The two of them walked back to their group, where Dizzy was talking Ben's ear off.

"Careful Dizzy, leave some oxygen for the rest of us," Mal chuckled, sitting down next her boyfriend.

"Everything okay?" Ben asked, looking at Mal. He had noticed the little conversation between Evie and Mal in the corner.

"Just girl talk," Mal told him. Out of the corner of her eye, Mal noticed the dark haired daughter of Ariel. It seemed that the younger girl was in the process of getting snacks.

"Be right back," Mal told Ben and scurried over to where the younger girl was. "Hi! You're Ariel's daughter, right?"

The raven haired girl nodded. "I'm Melody."

"Why didn't your parents name you something with an A or an E?" Mal asked, realizing that the way she had started the conversation felt similar to how she had cornered Jane in the bathroom. This time, though, there was no plot underlying the reason for her conversation with the younger girl. "That seems to be the pattern around here."

"Don't know, didn't really ask," Melody said with a chuckle.

"Look, I'm just going to cut the small talk," Mal told her. "Dizzy's here and while I don't think Evie's going to let her go, we can't be everywhere. Do you mind keeping an eye out?"

Melody looked at the older girl in shock. "Why me? There are hundreds of people you could ask—heck Rachel Fitzherbert and her brother are sitting right next to you!"

"You're closer to Dizzy's age, so if she ends up coming to Auradon Prep, you'd be in the same year," Mal told her. "Dizzy needs more friends than just Evie and myself. Plus, after what you did to Morgana, you're practically a legend on the Isle. You tick off Uma more than your mom does—anyone who can do that is alright in my book."

"Thanks, I guess," Melody said, looking slightly confused. "I mean, my grandfather did more to take down Morgana—"

"Details," Mal waived her off. "So what do you say?"

Mal held out her hand and Melody looked at it skeptically. While Mal didn't blame her, it still stung a little to have a favor questioned.

"No strings?"

"No strings," Mal told her. "I'm just doing this for Dizzy. I don't trust Chad as much as I could throw him."

"I'll do it," Melody told her, shaking the older girl's hand. "I've got a few friends I can rope into watching Dizzy too. I know what it's like to be the odd one out."

"I should probably get some snacks for the group," Mal said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "See anything good?"

Melody nodded and helped Mal pick out a few snacks—Mal piled on the strawberries on to her own plate and made a separate plate for Dizzy. Walking back to her group, she overheard the tail end of Dizzy and Evie's conversation.

"Will I get to try ice cream?" Dizzy asked.

"Maybe, if it's at the snack table," Evie told her, grinning from ear to ear; not worrying about the potential for wrinkles for once. Mal plopped the plate of snacks in front of the younger girl.

"While there was no ice cream, I think this will tide you over for a while," Mal said with a smirk that changed to a smile upon seeing Dizzy's wide eyed astonishment at the selection. "Yeah, I know. No dirt, no flies."

"Thanks Mal!"

"Dig in, Dizzy," Mal told her, sitting down next to Ben once more and bit into a juicy red strawberry.

"What were you talking to Melody about?" Ben whispered. He had been keeping an eye on Mal, though he knew his girlfriend could handle anything that came her way. He wanted to step in if backup was needed.

"Asked her to keep an eye on Dizzy," Mal whispered back. "E and I can't be everywhere and there are plenty of people here who don't like us Isle kids. Evie and I can defend ourselves, Dizzy's just a kid."

"No one would do that!"

"I'd rather be prepared," Mal told him with a sigh. "No one messed with Dizzy on the Isle because of our mothers and Jay's dad. We don't have that muscle here. Plus, if Dizzy gets to go to Auradon Prep, Melody will be closer to her in age so they could at least be friends."

Ben couldn't help but smile at that. "I'll make it so that Dizzy's part of the next batch."

"There will be a next batch?" Mal asked, looking at him.

"I can't make any promises, but I will fight my hardest to make sure that all children from the Isle get to come here," Ben told her. "Don't think I didn't hear your comment to Dizzy about the lack of flies and dirt on the food."

"Ben, thank you," Mal told him.

"The kids didn't do anything to deserve being locked on an Isle," Ben said. "I just can't believe my parents were the ones who set that up in the first place."

Mal looked over at him and saw the frown on his face. "Hey, your parents thought what they did was right. If they had brought kids over right from birth, they'd either have to separate families or bring the villains with their kids. Your way's smarter—prevents a bunch of resentful villains pounding on your door."

"You think so?"

"Don't tell anyone I said that though," Mal said with a smirk.

"Of course not," Ben chuckled and wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

"If everyone is ready?" Blue Fairy called out and everyone scrambled back to their seats. With a wave of her wand, the Blue Fairy started the film back up and Mal couldn't help but wonder what would be shown next.


	11. Chapter 11

**The scene opened to Jay and Coach Jenkins sitting on the bleachers, having what looks to be a pleasant conversation.**

**"** **I could really use a tough guy like you. The team's a bunch of princes, if you know what I mean."**

"Hey!"

"Chad, you are a prince," Kitty said, rolling her eyes.

"See! Nothing wrong with being a prince!" Chad nodded, not understanding his sister's comment.

**"** **You're telling me! It's all "after you, old chum. Oh, pardon me, did I bump into you?' Where I come from it's 'prepare to die, sucker!' As my father says, 'the only way to win is to make sure everyone else loses!'" Jay said, motioning with his hands to emphasize his point.**

"On the Isle, that's basically a motto for all of us," Mal said, looking over at Dizzy. The young girl, who was staring at the screen with rapt fascination, was never one to abide by that. It was one of the reasons why Mal was so happy that Dizzy was off the Isle.

At least for now.

Meanwhile, some of the girls were drooling over the way Jay's arm muscles flexed as he was talking.

**"** **Jay! Jay, Jay, Jay!" Coach Jenkins exclaimed, trying to get the boy to calm down.**

**"** **You rip—!"**

"Not sure I want to know the end of that saying," Aladdin said, looking slightly disturbed.

**"** **Let me explain a team. Uh, it's like a family," Coach Jenkins cut off Jay before he could build up steam and sitting him back down on the bleachers.**

**"** **You do not want to be at my house at dinner time," Jay told the coach.**

"True, very true," Carlos nodded.

"It's not a pretty sight," Evie sighed.

"Though with the food shortage, it never is," Dizzy added

King Beast choked on the bite of food he had taken, having heard the young girl's words. "Food shortage?" He asked after clearing out his airway.

"Well yeah," Dizzy said, looking confused at all the shocked looks on the adults and most of the children's faces. "We're twenty years into a garbage strike so we pretty much have to get what we can. I know it's been happening since before I was born, Uma and Harry won't stop ranting about it every time they stop by the shop."

"But you guys get food right?" Ben asked, looking at Dizzy in shock that quickly grew to horror as he remembered the scene of Carlos and Jay fighting over the candy. "You're not literally eating our garbage?"

Mal couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Ben, who always saw the good in everything, deflate at the idea of the people of the Isle eating garbage.

"Mom," Kitty whispered to Cinderella. "Can we invite Dizzy and the others to the castle for dinner sometime?"

Cinderella paused for a moment before a small smile graced her features. "It's like you read my mind. Let me work it out with your father."

Maybe she could arrange for Chad to be visiting his grandfather that evening? Normally she would never stoop to such a thing but watching how her son was treating the children of the Isle, it would be better if he wasn't at the dinner.

**"** **Okay, okay, um…you know how a body has a lot of different parts? The legs, elbows, ears? But they all need each other. Well that's what a team is, different players who work together to win. Make any sense?"**

"Like Mal, Carlos, Evie and myself," Jay said with a chuckle. "Mal's the leader, Carlos is our tech wizard, Evie's the mom and I'm the muscle."

"You're more than that Jay," Evie told him. "You're our morale builder!"

"That's true," Mal nodded. "Anytime things look down, you always find a way to give us the silver lining."

"Probably cause you stole it first," Carlos quipped and then ducked Jay's punch to his shoulder.

**"** **Can I be the fist?" Jay asked, causing the coach to laugh.**

"Congratulations," Aladdin told Jay with a small smile. "Tourney's not easy and I don't think Coach Jenkins has let anyone new on for about five years now."

"Thanks," Jay said after a few minutes. It was tough getting over the shock of Aladdin paying him a compliment.

**The scene changes to Jay walking into the girls' dorm with his new jersey on. Evie's sitting at the table doing assignments, holding her mirror in her other hand.**

"You were using the mirror?" Doug asked.

"Chad had included some make up work," Evie told him, shooting a glare in Chad's direction. "I wasn't there when the material was covered."

**"** **Yo-ho-ho!" Jay walked into the room, posing in his new jersey.**

"Whoo!" Morgan Phillip cheered.

"Morgan," her father warned but Giselle, her step mother, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let her cheer. I don't think these kids have had many people celebrate their accomplishments," she whispered.

**"** **Hey!" Carlos said from his spot on the floor as he sat, petting Dude. Jay walked over to Mal, who was looking in her spell book.**

"Someone's hard at work," Betsy whispered to her brother Brody who nodded. The children of Bernard and Bianca were raised to recognize and appreciate hard work. While they may not be in favor of stealing the Fairy Godmother's wand, they were at least glad that the younger girl wasn't half assing it.

When their parents defeated the VKs, it wouldn't be right if the attempt was half hearted.

**"** **Did your plan work with Jane? Are you going over to see the wand?" Jay asked Mal as he leaned against the post of the four poster bed.**

"I don't think she'd be pouring over the spell book if she had succeeded with Jane," Meg pointed out.

"Now Meg, Jay doesn't know that," Hercules told her. No one noticed Mal's slight tense at her cousin's comment.

**"** **Do you think that I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out?" Mal asked, the sarcasm in her voice palpable as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.**

"So, what all's in there besides the hair spell?" Kristoff asked.

"Kristoff!" Anna warned.

"What? I'm curious!"

**"** **Oh, someone's in a bad mood," Carlos muttered as he pet Dude.**

**"** **My mom's counting on me! I can't let her down," Mal stressed and flicked Carlos on the head.**

Many of the kids sobered at that, knowing the pressure they put on themselves to live up to their parents. The difference was, if they failed, they knew that their parents would support them.

Who knew what would happen to the VKs if they failed at getting the wand?

**"** **We can do this! If we stick together," Jay said in an attempt to lighten the mood.**

**"** **And we won't go** **_back_ ** **until we do," Mal agreed. "Because we're rotten."**

**"** **To the core," the other three VKs said in unison, though the spirit was lacking.**

_Has being here begun to change them?_ Ben thought, looking at the group who was so proud at being rotten. Carlos had come out of his shell, Jay seemed to fully appreciate being part of a team (and wasn't stealing everything in sight). Evie, the girl who was a walking definition of a 'gold digger' was doing exceptional in her classes.

The only one who seemed to stay the same was Mal, but Ben wouldn't change anything about her.

**Evie sat at the table. "Oh, yeah. I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at coronation and we all get to go. I have nothing to wear, of course." She looked over at Mal, who gave her a look. "What?"**

"Seriously?" Madeline Robin exclaimed. "Wouldn't that be like the first thing you lead with?"

"Madeline!" Christopher Robin warned. His wife Evelyn shared a commiserating look with Gisele. Even though Christopher had learned to enjoy himself again, he was still prim and proper when amongst the royals of Auradon.

**Before Mal could tear into her blue haired friend, there was a sudden knock at the door.**

"Saved by the bell," Jamie chuckled.

**"** **Hold that thought," Mal said and got up to answer it, only to behold Ben standing on the other side.**

**"** **Hey, Mal. I didn't see you guys today. I was just wondering if you had any questions or anything that you needed?" Ben said, a smile gracing his features that anyone could tell was genuine.**

"Probably also wanted to be sure Audrey and Chad didn't give them a hard time," Rowyn muttered.

**"** **Not that I know of," Mal said, looking back at her friends, as if to silently ask if they needed anything.**

**"** **Okay. All right. Well, uh, if you need anything, just, uh…" Ben said, getting ready to leave.**

Belle couldn't help but smile at her son's stammering. Since Ben was born, Belle felt guilty that he couldn't have a regular life—sure he had friends who were royalty but since Beast was _the_ king, Ben had to watch how he acted while in public. It was nice to finally see him being able to act like a normal teen.

**"** **Oh wait!" Mal called out to stop Ben from leaving and Ben looked right at her. "Um, is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?"**

**"** **Yeah, the whole school goes," Ben told her.**

"And you didn't think that suspicious?" Chad asked, turning to Ben. "Four villain kids asking about your coronation?"

"Why would I?" Ben asked, staring Chad down. "They were new, they probably heard it around school and wanted to be sure they had the details right."

Chad scoffed. "Wow, Audrey was right. You are too trusting. That group has one known gold digger who's already flirted with you back when you were with Audrey and yet you don't think they'll do anything to get ahead?"

"Watch yourself, Chad," Ben warned, a small growl in his voice. He had seen how Evie deflated when Chad called her a gold digger. He liked Mal's friends, he wanted to be their friend too. Normally, he would hate to choose between his friends but with the way Chad was acting, Ben didn't want to be considered a friend of his anyway.

"Or what?"

"For the love of all that is good and pure, shut up!" Kitty shouted, glaring at Chad while startling everyone with her sudden eruption. "I apologize, Ben, on behalf of my idiot brother. He doesn't speak for the whole family."

"How can you trust them?" Chad demanded, turning to his little sister.

"Because while you were standing by when your girlfriend thought it was a good idea to make my life hell, Mal and Evie actually did something about it!" Kitty responded, getting in Chad's face and poking him on the chest. "I really hope you like sniffing up Audrey's skirts because no one is going to be around you when you come up for air!"

With that, the smaller Charming stormed off to where the VKs, Ben, Lonnie, Rachel and Evan were sitting. Chad looked over at his mother and father to defend himself but the look on their faces told Chad that nothing good would come his way.

"Three weeks," was the only thing his mother said. His father didn't say a word but shot him a disappointed glare.

"Don't think I didn't hear your name in that conversation, young lady," Aurora whispered to Audrey.

"Mom, I barely did anything," Audrey scoffed. "She's just being dramatic."

"Yeah, filling her locker with cat litter sure is nothing," Phillip Jr muttered.

"Four weeks," Aurora told her daughter, having heard her younger child's mutters. "Also, I think you and Chad could stand with a summer apart."

"Mother!"

**"** **Wow, that is beyond exciting. Do you think that it's a possibility that the four of us could stand in the front row next to the Fairy Godmother, just so we could soak in all that goodness?" Mal asked, pretending to be interested.**

"That….that's a good plan, not going to lie," Emma White muttered, wrapping her arms around her knees. It was a lot better than just trying to steal the wand.

**"** **I wish you could. Up front it's just me, my folks and my girlfriend," Ben told her, looking disappointed to have told Mal no.**

**"** **And your girlfriend?" Mal asked, the gears in her head turning as a plan began to form.**

"Really Ben? Did you have no sense of protection for poor Audrey?" Queen Leah sniffed. "Anything could have happened."

"Mother, enough." Aurora said. "Considering Audrey is sitting with us and appears to be relatively unharmed, it's safe to assume nothing happened."

"Do you not care—"

"Don't ever accuse me about not caring for my daughter," Aurora almost growled, glaring at her mother. Then, as if realizing where she was, she straightened up and cleared her throat. "However, we can not lose our heads about this."

**"** **Yeah, I'm sorry," Ben apologized.**

**"** **Okay, thanks bye!" Mal said, quickly shutting the door.**

"Smooth," Carlos chuckled, causing Mal to flick him on the back of his head.

**"** **Oh, but, no, there's plenty of—" Ben tried to let them know that there would be plenty of room but was cut off by the door shutting in his face.**

**Mal turned around, a wicked smile forming on her face. "I think it's time that Bennyboo got himself a new girlfriend. And I need a love spell."**

**Carlos tossed the spell book to Mal, who laughed.**

"See! I told you Ben!" Audrey shouted, going to her feet. "You should have never trusted them!"

"Guess you really did steal Ben," Chad smirked, chiming in with his two cents. Other kids started muttering in anger that the VKs had used a love spell against their future king. The mutterings got so loud that Dizzy curled into Evie as if to ward them off.

"Nothing to say?" Audrey sneered at Mal, who was trying her hardest not to go on a rampage. She knew how it looked to the adults and the kids of Auradon. She didn't want to make it worse.

"Alright Audrey, enough," Ben said, a firm tone to his voice and standing up as well to look Audrey in the eye. "Why don't we just watch the rest?"

"How can you defend them spelling you?!" Audrey shouted.

"I think dogs howled at that last word, that's how high she got," Kitty muttered low enough so that Dizzy heard, causing her step-cousin to smile. Unlike her brother, Kitty paid attention to conversations that didn't involve her and so knew exactly who Dizzy was.

Ben, however, just shot Audrey a dirty look and sat back down, wrapping an arm around Mal's shoulders. While the noise settled down, the dark looks and mutters did not.

"I can't believe Ben's still sitting with her," Beast grumbled.

"Ben's a smart boy," Belle told her husband but looked at her son with worry evident in her eyes.

**The scene changed to the four of them in the kitchen, hard at work.**

**"** **All right. It says that we still need one tear, and I never cry," Mal said, looking at her spell book.**

"How?" Melody asked, one of the few to not shoot Mal and the gang dirty looks.

"On the Isle, you cry you die," Mal said simply.

"Life's harder on the weak," Evie added.

"Never let them know they got to you," Jay piled on.

"The punishment's ten times worse if you cry," Carlos continued.

"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about," Dizzy finished, coming out from behind Evie.

Most of the adults couldn't help but look horrified at what the five of them had just revealed. Anita knew that it wouldn't just do to get Carlos for the summer—she was getting him off that god forsaken Isle if it was the last thing she did.

Cinderella looked over at Dizzy and hoped her husband would agree to foster her through her schooling. She deserved more than what the Isle would provide.

**"** **Let's just chop up some onions," Carlos said, picking up an onion as if to illustrate his point, Dude sitting by his side.**

**"** **No. It says that we need one tear of human sadness, and this love potion gets the best reviews so we have to follow it exactly," Mal told him, pointing to the recipe.**

"Love potions get reviews?" Kristoff asked.

"Well, more like my mother had comments about what worked on one and what didn't work on others," Mal told him. "The one we used had the least amount of comments."

"Oh."

"Also, how can the potion tell the difference between human sadness and say, crying from laughter?" Anna added on, curious herself.

Mal paused. "I don't know. Mom never really explained the whole magic thing before we came here."

**"** **A tear's a tear," Jay said, annoyed by the delay.**

"Actually, that's not true," Jane Porter said with a kind smile. "They have their differences."

**"** **That's not true, Jay. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear," Evie explained.**

"Well said, my dear!" Fairy Godmother beamed at Evie.

"Told you you were smart," Mal smirked and bumped her friend on the shoulder with her own. Evie blushed but smiled at the praise.

**"** **Listen to you," Mal said, impressed with her best friend.**

**"** **Yeah, I knew that!" Jay defended himself.**

**"** **Did not!" Carlos said, matter of fact and lightly hitting Jay on the arm.**

**"** **Yeah, I did!"**

"Yeah, you sure looked like you knew that," a blonde girl sitting next to Melody rolled her eyes.

"Grace, be nice," Melody muttered, bumping her friend on the shoulder the same way Mal had done to Evie earlier.

**The door to the kitchen opened and Lonnie stepped in. "There you are, Mal! I was looking for you." Mal quickly covered the spell book with a napkin to avoid getting caught. "You know, all the girls want you to do their hair! Midnight snack, huh? What are you guys making?"**

"Really, all the girls wanted me to do their hair?" Mal raised an eyebrow.

"They did!"

"And did Jane happen to mention the reason why I turned about five of them down until they figured out the idea of spacing out the hair visits?"

A few of the girls flushed at the idea that they had aided to what had appeared to be Mal's perpetual exhaustion for a few days.

"We really did like our hair Mal," Kitty said, tugging on the end of one of her braids. "I know for me, I was just excited to look as good as Jane and Lonnie did. I'm sorry I didn't think about magical exhaustion."

"You don't have magic," Mal said, slightly confused.

"Did you forget who my mother is? We've gotten the lecture about how draining magic can be when you're not used to it about fifty times now."

Meanwhile, Audrey was stewing over the fact that, yet again, no one was suspicious of the four villains acting odd.

**"** **Nothing special, just cookies. Oh, no, no!" Mal and Evie tried to stop Lonnie from tasting the potion, but to no avail.**

"Lonnie!" Mulan scolded, trying to keep her voice down so that the other kids didn't hear. She and Shang had actually moved closer to their daughter and the group she was siting in during the previous break. "How many times have we told you to be careful?"

"What, because they're villain kids?" Lonnie asked, turning to her mom with a look of shock and disappointment on her face.

"No," Mulan shook her head. "Remember Prince Ben is in school with you and while the main villains are on the Isle, there were some that escaped the round up. If there was an assassination attempt…"

Lonnie stifled a gasp, realizing what her mother meant. "I'll be more careful, mother," she said. "But I won't let Mal, Evie, Carlos, Jay or Dizzy feel like they're not to be trusted because of where they came from."

Mulan looked over at Shang, who smiled at his daughter. "How'd we get such a smart, loyal and kind daughter?"

"I think it's the karma mom had owed to her after saving China," Lonnie said with a chuckle.

**"** **Wait, wait, wait!" Carlos pleaded.**

**"** **What? I'm not going to double dip," Lonnie said, slightly confused as to why everyone had tensed up.**

"Why not grab like an apple or something?" Henry asked, confused. "Better texture."

"It's cookie dough, why not grab a spoon instead?" Roland Hood countered.

"I'm not even going to defend the actions of my past self," Lonnie said, shaking her head in amusement.

**"** **Feel anything?" Evie asked.**

**"** **Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something?" Mal added.**

"How would she know?" Poppy asked. "Lonnie didn't know it was a love spell."

**Jay walked over to Lonnie and leaned against one of the storage racks. "Hey there," he said, turning up the charm and looking into Lonnie's eyes.**

Lonnie flushed as she realized just what Jay was doing. She hadn't realized it at the time because all of them were acting kinda weird but Lonnie had just assumed it was because she had interrupted them.

The funny thing was she had a little bit of a crush on Jay, but she hadn't known if it would be a good idea to take the first move or not. Now that Prince Ben was dating Mal though, maybe the opportunity was there for her to do it too?

**Lonnie just looked at him as if he was crazy. "It could use some chips."**

**"** **Chips?" Jay asked, a little taken aback that the flirting didn't work.**

"First time it's ever happened," Jay said.

"Won't be the last," Carlos told him and chuckled at the look on his friend's face.

**Mal and Evie breathed a sigh of relief that the potion didn't work on Lonnie, Evie almost collapsing into Mal.**

**"** **And those are?" Mal asked while continuing to stir the batter.**

"Chocolate chips!" Daniel cheered.

"How do you not know about chocolate chips?" Georgie asked.

"It's only the best food in the world!" Emir told them, causing Lonnie and Ben to jump as Emir had come up right behind them. "Don't mind if I do," he said, sneaking a strawberry off of Mal's plate.

"Hey!"

"I'll bring it back!"

True to his word, Emir brought the strawberry back but this time it was covered in a dark substance. Mal looked very confused and glanced at Ben.

"Just try it," Ben told her.

Mal shrugged and took a bite out of the strawberry. The sweetness of the substance seemed to magnify all that she loved about strawberries and she couldn't help her eyes widening in surprise.

"That's chocolate," Emir said with a chuckle. "I'll head back to my seat now."

"Come on man, join us!" Ben told his team mate.

"More the merrier!" Lonnie nodded.

"I think we need more tourney members over here," Jay chuckled and Emir grinned before plopping down between Jay and Kitty, causing the smaller girl to flush slightly.

**Lonnie went to the refrigerator and pulled out a small bowl. "Chocolate chips. Just the most important food group." She walked over and set the small bowl on the counter. "Wait, didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?"**

"Open mouth, insert foot," Lonnie groaned.

"It's okay Lonnie," Evie told her. "There's no way you could have known."

"Honestly, though, if my mom ever made me anything I'd probably run as it's probably poisoned," Carlos said with a nod. Anita made a mental note to make chocolate chip cookies whenever the boy wanted when he lived with them.

**Lonnie asked, putting a few into the food bowl. Mal and Evie stared at her, slightly confused. "Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big old glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and…why are you all looking at me like that?"**

"Well, I don't have a mom, so there's that," Jay pointed out.

"As stated, if my mom ever made me anything, I'd suspect poison," Carlos added.

"You guys don't throw out much chocolate," Mal shrugged. "Kinda hard to have that mother daughter moment if we can't get the stuff."

**The VKs just stared at her. "It's just different where we're from," Mal told her, going back to mixing the batter.**

"That's putting it mildly," Dizzy muttered.

**"** **Yeah, I know. I just, you** **_know_ ** **, I thought…Even villains love their kids," Lonnie elaborated but her cheerful mood disappeared as she saw the looks on her friends' faces and she knew that she had basically stuck her foot in her mouth. "Oh. How awful."**

**She reached out and rested both of her hands on top of Mal's, who looked shocked but didn't pull away.**

"That surprised me," Lonnie whispered to Ben. "I honestly thought she would pull her hand away."

"I think it was because instead of pity, you were showing empathy," Ben whispered back. "Then again, I'm not Mal's brain so I could be entirely wrong."

**Lonnie shed a tear, which Mal quickly picked up and added to the potion.**

"Okay, that was kinda funny," Grace chuckled.

"Lonnie!" Audrey exclaimed. "You gave them the tear!"

"It's not like I knew what they were doing, Audrey!" Lonnie shot back. "Besides, even if I did know, I'd react the same way!"

"How do you know they weren't acting?"

"Because I'm not a paranoid weirdo who thinks if someone's more pretty than me, she's a threat!" Lonnie shot back. "I trust them!"

Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos stared at Lonnie in shock. It was the first time anyone had said that out loud and they had to admit it felt good.

"Your mistake," Audrey sniffed.

Meanwhile, Phillip was rubbing Aurora's shoulders, whispering to her to let it go. It wasn't working.

**"** **Yeah, well, big bummer. But we have to get these into the oven, so thank you so much for coming by. Really, really. Have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams," Mal said, waiving Lonnie goodbye.**

"Lonnie, you seemed shocked about the tear thing," Doug pointed out.

"I didn't expect Mal to wipe away the tear like that," Lonnie shrugged. Ben, though, looked over at Mal.

"Evil dreams?"

"It's a saying!"

**"** **Good night," Lonnie said and walked out.**

**"** **See you tomorrow," Mal called after Lonnie's retreating form. Once she was sure Lonnie was gone, Mal turned to the rest of the VKs. "Okay boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven."**

**"Yes ma'am," Evie said, and the four of them got to work.**

"Well that was interesting," Poppy said with a small chuckle.

"Wonder what the next bit will show?" her father Max asked.

"Well it's ridiculous to just sit here and wonder," Allison said with a smile. However, she was surprised at the groan that came from the students of Auradon Prep. "What did I say?"

"You'll find out," Ben told her.


	12. Chapter 12

**The scene opens on a shot of the school where a group of girls could be seen giggling on a picnic table. Ben and Audrey walk past, the latter looking concerned at the gathering. Mal slips through the door to her locker.**

"It would probably be less suspicious if you had just walked through the door like everyone else," Jay pointed out.

"Shut it, Jay," Mal rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying!"

**"** **Look, it's Mal!"**

**"** **Hi Mal!"**

**"** **Love my hair, Mal!"**

**Mal smiled back at them and waved, and then opened her locker.**

"I mean, a good hairstylist would have done the same thing," Audrey sniffed, "and they wouldn't have had to use magic."

"True but Mal only cost fifty bucks," Grace told her. "A good hairstylist is at most $150 and takes two hours."

"So?"

"We don't all have $150 to blow on a haircut, Audrey," Emma rolled her eyes.

**Jay walked up to Mal, as Carlos, Evie and Doug walked out of the school."Are you feeling kind of weird about this? I mean, it's not so bad here, you know?"**

Aladdin looked over at the long haired boy who was sitting next to his son. It surprised him that Jay would be the first one to begin to welcome Auradon but then again, he was a street rat. Street rats tended to welcome comfort.

If Aladdin's own experiences were anything to go off of, that is.

**"** **Are you insane?" Mal asked, looking at Jay as if he'd grown two more heads. "Long live evil! You're mean, you're awful, you're bad news! Snap out of it!"**

**To emphasize her point, Mal snapped her fingers in Jay's face.**

"I could have done without the snapping in my face," Jay told her.

"I needed to make my point," Mal said with a shrug.

**"** **Thanks Mal. I needed that," Jay said with a smile. Mal patted Jay on the shoulder and he walked off to flirt with the girls on the quad.**

Many of the girls sighed at the sight of Jay walking toward their past selves.

**"** **Do you think they actually paid for those?" Audrey asked Ben, referring to the hairstyles of the other girls.**

**Jay leaned on the railing. "Oh, hello. The name's Jay. You all going to the tourney game tonight?"**

"I think the whole school was going," Bobby Hood said with a chuckle, wrapping an arm around his little brother's shoulders.

"Get off, Bobby!" Roland groaned, pushing the arm off but smiling all the same.

**"** **Yeah," the girls nodded.**

**"** **Keep a look out for number eight, all right? Scoring the winning goal."**

**"** **Okay!"**

"Did you Jay?" Dizzy asked, looking at Jay eagerly. While she wasn't as close to the boys as she was Mal or Evie, she still liked all of them.

"You'll have to watch to find out, Dizzy," Mal told her, saving Jay from answering. No one wanted to disappoint the young girl.

**"** **She did it to Jane's hair too, and Fairy Godmother's not happy about it," Audrey said to Ben, as if finishing a rant.**

"If Fairy Godmother was bothered by it, wouldn't she, say, talk to me before I ended up doing the hair of almost every girl in school?" Mal asked, staring at Audrey. "It's hair, Audrey."

**"** **What's the harm?" Ben asked, looking confused as to why Audrey would be making such a big issue over it.**

**"** **It's gateway magic! Sure, it starts with the hair. Next thing you know, it's the lips and the legs and the clothes and then everybody looks good and then…where will I be?"**

"Seriously? Is that all you think about?" Phillip Jr. groaned. "I swear you spend more time with your face in a mirror than Evie does, and that's saying something."

Meanwhile, Phillip Sr. looked over at his daughter. "You will still be the beautiful girl I love, Audrey. It doesn't matter what anyone else looks like."

Audrey couldn't help but give her father a small smile. It was silly but it had felt like she had been losing her parents' love throughout this venture. "Thanks dad."

**"** **Listen, Audrey—"**

**"** **I will see you at the game after my dress-fitting for the coronation, okay?"**

**"** **Okay," Ben agreed.**

**"** **Bye, Bennyboo!" Audrey said as she walked away.**

**"** **Bye," Ben said, sounding almost upset.**

"Ben, were you mad at me?" Audrey asked, shocking most of the people watching. They hadn't expected the vapid girl to pick up on Ben's emotions.

"I was wondering where my best friend went," Ben told her. "We've known each other since we were toddlers, Audrey. You never used to care about what anyone else looked like before, nor did you ever give me a nickname like 'Bennyboo'."

"But Granny always said—"

"Mother?" Aurora cut Audrey off and looked over at her mother. "What have you been teaching my daughter?"

"Well someone had to teach her to be a proper princess," Queen Leah sniffed. "You were content to have her play in mud and run around like a child from the Isle."

"She was three, mother!" Aurora shouted, no longer caring about making a scene. "By the way, _I_ played in mud and ran around like, as you put it, 'a child from the Isle' when I was three. Am I no longer a proper princess?"

Queen Leah seemed almost shocked at her daughter's outburst. Aurora looked over at Audrey.

"I know this will seem like a punishment and yes, you're still grounded for the first four weeks of summer holidays, but it's not. I'm giving you a choice Audrey. Do you want to still have your two week trip to your grandmother's?"

Audrey looked shocked that her mother was giving her the choice instead of putting her foot down. "May I have some time to think it over, mother?"

Aurora smiled at her daughter. "You can have all the time you need, my flower."

**Mal, meanwhile, closed her locker and turned to face Ben.**

**"** **Hey, Bennyboo!" Mal joked, repeating the nickname Audrey had given to Ben.**

Despite the scene before, many people couldn't help but laugh at Mal's imitation of Audrey.

**Ben turned to face Mal. "Hey!" He said, cheering up almost instantly and walked toward her.**

Audrey looked down. She had noticed how Ben cheered up when he saw Mal and Audrey knew that this was without the aid of the love potion. He truly liked Mal in some way—Audrey couldn't help but be jealous.

She was supposed to be the one to hold Ben's affections like that! She was supposed to be the one to cheer him up! Not some girl from the Isle!

**Mal held up a bag with a cookie in it. "I just made a batch of cookies. Double chocolate chip, do you want one?"**

"Who bags one cookie?" Melody asked.

"She could have wanted it to be a gift for Ben," her mother Ariel told her.

**"** **Oh, I, uh, I've got a big game. I don't eat before a big game. But thank you so, so much. Thank you. Next time, next time," Ben said and then began to walk away.**

"At least it was game day," King Beast sighed in relief. He knew his son's lucky traditions and not eating before a game was one of them. It drove Belle mad though.

"Adam," Belle whispered. "I don't think they would have shown the cookie if Ben wasn't going to eat it."

While the rest of the kingdom knew him as King Beast, only Belle and Ben knew his true name.

**"** **No, yeah. I completely understand," Mal said, following him. "Be careful of treats offered by kids of villains."**

**"** **No, no, no."**

**"** **No, I'm sure every kid in Auradon knows that."**

"No, not really," Neal White said with a shrug. "Ya'll are the first 'villains' we've encountered. Why would we have that saying?"

"Neal!" Snow scolded. "We don't use 'ya'll'."

Meanwhile, Meg couldn't help but smirk. "She's good," she muttered to Hercules. "I think, if she wanted to, she could beat Hades in terms of smooth talking people."

"Mal's not that bad," Hercules told her. "Maleficent may be the mistress of evil but she was never as bad as Hades."

Meg just shook her head. Hercules could deny it all he wanted but Meg had spent her life around Hades. It was clear that there was some resemblance between the purple haired teen and the Lord of the Underworld.

**"** **No, that's not it. No, no, no, I….I really do…" Ben looked away and then looked back at Mal.**

**"** **No, I get it," Mal told him. "You're cautious. That's smart. Oh well, more for me I guess," she said, pulling the cookie out and brought it to her mouth before Ben snatched it out of her hand.**

"Ben!" Belle scolded. "You do not snatch things from people!"

Ben blinked, amazed that he wasn't be scolded for eating the love potion cookie. "I—I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry Mal." He turned to his girlfriend. "I guess I was just eager to show you that I trusted you that I didn't think how it would look to have the cookie snatched out of your hands."

"Nah," Mal smirked. "I liked it. Reminded me of the Isle."

Lonnie clapped her hands. "Okay, but what I would like to know is why Ben isn't more upset about being given a love potion?"

"Yeah!" Emir chuckled. "What, did you already know dude?"

Ben looked over at Mal, who seemed super nervous about the answer. Everyone waited on tenterhooks to see what Ben's answer would be.

"Can we please just get on with the film?" Artie asked, impatiently and unknowingly saving Ben from answering. "I'm sure we'll get the answer at some point."

"Artie," his father King Arthur warned.

**"** **No, no. Hey…see that?" Ben said as he took a bite of the cookie. "Totally trust you. Totally."**

**Mal looked back at the other VKs who were creeping up on Ben, like a pride of lions circling a wounded antelope. She looked back at Ben. "How are they?"**

"You guys really need to learn subtlety," Emir chuckled.

"Also, what's Doug doing?" Kitty asked, noticing Doug in the background. "Is he watching this go down?"

"I noticed Evie and wanted to know what was going on," Doug said, having heard his name. Though, Kitty wasn't exactly keeping her voice down.

"Doug, come join us!" Ben said with a smile and waved the other boy over. Doug looked over at his family—Shelby seemed to be urging him on while Harper, Hap, and Cheerful seemed to just be happy for him. His cousin Gordon just rolled his eyes.

Doug got up and sat down between Ben and Lonnie, shooting a smile at Evie.

**"** **They're good. They're great! They're amazing! They're, uh….I mean, they're chewy and, you know, they…is that walnuts? I love walnuts. I mean, uh, you know, the….the chocolate….the…the chocolate…**

"Is he rambling?" Robin Fitzherbert asked.

"Would you like to be put on the spot like that?" Her older sister Rose shot back while Evan just shook his head at his sisters' antics.

"It could just be the potion kicking in," he added. Chad, though, looked confused.

"Dude, you hate walnuts. You pick them out of your salad like all the time."

"Love potion, Chad. Keep up," Kitty groaned. "Seriously, how are we related?"

**"** **the chocolate chips are….I'm sorry. Um…uh, they're….they're warm and soft. And they're sweet." Ben rambled before pausing, staring at Mal's eyes. "Mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?"**

Hercules looked over at Mal, curious at Ben's question. It was said that only those who descended from the Gods had golden flecks in their eyes. But there were no Gods that Hercules could think of that would lay with Maleficent. The only God who was on the Isle was Hades, and his only child was a boy named Hadie.

**Mal took the cookie from Ben before he could take another bite. Jay walked up behind Ben and put his hand on the other boy's shoulders.**

**"** **How you feeling, bro?" The long haired boy asked.**

"Seriously guys, he's not going to run off if you approach him like a normal person!" Alexi groaned.

"Alexi," his father Dmitri warned, shaking his head. "Behave yourself."

"Yes father," the young boy nodded, his light brown hair falling into his eyes.

**"** **I feel…I feel…I feel like…like singing your name! Mal! Mal!" Ben sang.**

No one seemed to want to look each other in the eye, in fear that they would burst out laughing. Ben, though, groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"Was I that bad?" He muttered softly to himself. Yeah, he loved Mal but he didn't think the love potion would have been that strong. Maybe it strengthened feelings he already had?

**Mal quickly covered the boy's mouth as Evie and Carlos laughed, while Doug watched from the background in confusion. Jay stared at the cookie Mal had handed him in wonder.**

"Doug, why didn't you say anything?" Lonnie asked.

"I had no clue what was going on," Doug said, trying and failing to hold back a chuckle at Ben's antics on the screen.

**[The scene changed to the Tourney field, where a game was taking place. Audrey led the Cheerleaders and the mascot in cheering on the Tourney team]**

**"** **Ohayohay!"**

**"** **This is a nail-biter, folks. There's 47 second left on the clock. We're all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons, two. The Fighting Knights, two. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals!" The announcer said as the crowd danced and cheered.**

"I wish I could have gone," King Adam/Beast said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, there was a council meeting right before that ran long."

"It's okay, dad," Ben told him with a smile. "I get it."

Mal, however, tilted her head in confusion. "Why isn't the announcer in a booth of some kind? I can assume that he gets whacked in the head many times—wouldn't it be safer to have him protected?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Ben told her. "Maybe having him have a small booth near the edge of the field would be a good idea."

**Chad took a drink of water from his water bottle, seemingly on a short break as he was still standing.**

**"** **Get 'em, Chad!" Jay cheered on his teammate from his spot on the bench.**

**"** **Thanks, Jay," Chad ran to the field.**

"So what? We just need to keep you on the tourney field to make you pleasant toward them?" Kitty asked her brother.

"Tourney's different," Chad told her. "You trust the other players around you."

"Even if they're villain kids?"

**"** **The teams get into their huddles and take up positions along the kill zone," the announcer said. "The dragoneers have been laying down a withering hail of fire."**

**"** **Akiho!" Coach yelled for a boy to join the bench. "You're up," he turned and told Jay.**

"Whoo!" Dizzy shouted with a smile.

"Go Jay!" Kitty shouted as well, having missed the game due to a bad fall off of her horse the day before. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt too bad but she did have to stay in the hospital wing for about two days before she was free to go.

**"** **And now a substitution!" the announcer exclaimed.**

**Jay got up from his seat on the bench, pulling Carlos up with him. "Coach, how about my buddy here?"**

**"** **Oh, no," Carlos said, sitting back down.**

"I'm with him," Rodger muttered. Carlos would get hurt for sure if he went onto the field, but at the same time, Rodger couldn't help but smile at Jay sticking up for his friend.

**"** **Not so sure about that," Coach said.**

**"** **Coach, he's been practicing," Jay say, pulling Carlos back up again.**

**"** **Jay…"**

**"** **And you said yourself a team is made up of a bunch of parts."**

"Nice," Mal smirked. "Use his words against him."

**"** **Jay, I'm not that good," Carlos pleaded, waiving his hand in front of his throat as if to cut Jay off from this line of conversation.**

**"** **Well, he's kind of like my brain," Jay finished, ruffling Carlos' hair and ignoring the words coming from the younger boy.**

"Kind of?" Evie chuckled. "He's all of our brains, at least when it comes to tech stuff."

**"** **Emir!" Coach called someone else over to the bench for the switch. "You heard him. Get out there!"**

"Good luck!" Aladdin said, giving both boys a grin.

"You got this!" Rodger shouted, crossing his fingers that the smaller boy would remain unharmed.

Carlos looked over at Jay in amazement, having heard Rodger's shout of encouragement.

"I know, dude," Jay nodded. "It's weird."

**"** **Don't worry bro. I got your back!" Jay comforted Carlos.**

**"** **How about my front?" Carlos asked.**

"Nothing too bad happens in tourney," Tanner said with a chuckle.

**"** **Pfft. Get out there!" Jay laughed and pushed Carlos out onto the field. Mal and Evie cheered as the two joined the game, Evie bouncing up and down while Mal watched in a less enthusiastic manner.**

**"** **He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos can barely hold a shield."**

"Yes, I know! I'm skinny!" Carlos griped. "Could we please focus on something else?"

**"** **Break!" The team shouted.**

**"** **When they break from their huddles, this is going to be a big moment here," the announcer began.**

**The teams took their positions.**

**"** **And the tipoff is ready. Here we go! Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. Nice little block by Carlos. He does a little dancing jig in his opponent's face, and now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field," the announcer continued commentating as the play went on.**

"Go Jay!" Dizzy yelled once more, bouncing in her seat.

**"** **I'm open!" Ben yelled.**

**"** **Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone!"**

**"** **Jay!"**

**"** **Big block by Chad!**

"Nice block Chad!" Neal shouted, grinning from ear to ear. He loved a good Tourney game.

**Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear! Shoot! Oh, what a save by Philip, the Falcon's goalkeeper!"**

Most of the adult audience groaned. Parents weren't allowed at Auradon Prep unless it was Parents' Weekend so none of them were able to attend.

The only exception was, of course, the King and Queen but they rarely made an appearance. The last thing they wanted was for Ben to be singled out based on who his parents were.

**"** **Come on! All, right, all right, let's do it!" Ben gathered his team again.**

**"** **Come on, guys! Come on, hustle, hustle!" The coach yelled.**

"Coach, I don't think they heard you," Akiho said with a chuckle.

**"** **23 seconds left. You could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by Jay. Big block from Chad. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. And then Carlos with a big block, goes down!**

"No!" Anita gasped, looking at Carlos as if to make sure he was unharmed.

**Jay through the kill zone, picks up Carlos.**

"Thank goodness for Jay," Evie sighed, not realizing Dizzy had an iron strong grip on her arm.

**Oh, he's being hammered by dragon fire. Still, going on. Jay hurdling maneuver at mid-field. He's in the clear. The ball goes back to Jay!"**

**"** **Hey Jay!" Carlos got Jay's attention.**

**"** **Carlos?"**

**"** **Go up!" Carlos said and Jay threw the ball off of Carlos' shield before jumping over the smaller boy.**

"Brilliant!" Aladdin grinned.

"Great teamwork!" Shang exclaimed.

"Okay, what parallel universe did we land in?" Carlos whispered to Jay. "Aurora being nice to Mal, Aladdin giving you compliments, Rodger Radcliffe being encouraging to me? Other heroes just being nice? I mean, Shang coaches the Imperial Academy team. Why should he care about our teamwork?"

"Let's just enjoy it while we can, bro," Jay whispered back.

**"** **Ben!" Jay passed the ball to Ben.**

**"** **He passes to Prince Ben! He scores!"**

Mal had to resist the urge to cover her ears at Dizzy's squealing. She was glad that the younger girl was happy for Jay but her ear piercing squeals were painful.

**The crowd burst into cheers and Mal covered her ears at the squeals coming from both Lonnie and Evie.**

"Sorry Mal," Lonnie said, giving her friend a sheepish smile.

**Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay! What a team! Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the Prince for the win here. What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever! Here they come, folks! The winners of the first tourn—"**

**The announcer was cut off by Ben grabbing the microphone.**

"Seriously dude?" Akiho groaned. "This is the second time you've grabbed something from someone."

**"** **Excuse me, excuse me! Can I have your attention, please? There's something I'd like to say." Ben paused, almost unsure about what he was going to say. The crowd, too, looks around; as if they're unsure about what's about to happen. "Give me an 'M'!"**

**"** **M!" The crowd shouted, Audrey looking up at Ben with a smile on her face.**

Audrey flushed at the reminder of her belief that Ben was about to propose.

**"** **Give me an 'A'!"**

**"** **A"**

**"** **Give me an 'L'!"**

**"** **L!"**

**Mal could be seen with her mouth hanging down in shock while Audrey seemed to catch on that she had just been used to spell another girl's name by her boyfriend.**

"Really Ben?" Belle gave a disappointed look to her son. True, he was under the influence of a love potion but even so, he was raised to never embarrass someone like that. Ben looked away from his mother and looked at Audrey.

"Audrey, I am so sorry," Ben told his ex-girlfriend. "I know it's no excuse but I had forgotten that you were Head Cheerleader. I was caught up in the moment."

"And the love potion," Philip Jr said with a chuckle, finding joy at Audrey's discomfort.

"That too."

"Mal, why were you shocked?" Rachel asked. "After all, you gave him the love cookie."

"I didn't think he would cause such a scene," Mal said with a shrug. "After all, he was still dating Audrey. I thought that maybe he'd break up with her in private—I didn't know the full affect of the potion."

**"** **What does that spell?" Ben asked.**

**"** **Mal!"**

**"** **Come on, I can't hear you!"**

**"** **Mal!"**

**Audrey seemed to grow more upset with every word coming from Ben's mouth.**

Aurora looked over at her daughter, who seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable with the reminder of her past embarrassment. "Audrey, are you okay?"

"Yes mother," Audrey nodded.

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Audrey nodded wordlessly. A princess didn't make a scene, didn't whine. After all, her mother lived sixteen years in a cottage without knowing who she was. She would probably tell her that she was overreacting or being dramatic.

"If you want to talk," Aurora told her, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder and gave her a kind smile.

**"** **I love you, Mal! Did I mention that?"**

**Everyone turned toward Mal, and Lonnie seemed ecstatic by the news while Mal looked like she would prefer to be anywhere but at the tourney field.**

"We really don't have big proclamation of love or any emotion other than hate on the Isle," Evie explained, noticing the questioning looks that Mal was getting.

**"** **Oh!" Audrey ran off the field, while Carlos looked at her departure with a smile on his face.**

"I was more happy for Mal than finding amusement at Audrey," Carlos said quickly. "Audrey actually never gave me that much trouble."

**"** **Give me a beat! Whoo!" Ben yelled.**

"Akiho, are you hiding your eyes?" Anna asked, slightly amused at her son's behavior. It was as if he was embarrassed by the way Ben was acting.

"It was bright, mom!"

"Emir?" Jasmine asked, noticing her son was doing the same thing. Emir just looked away, as if he hadn't heard the question.

**Doug shouted from his spot with the band. "Uno, dos, tres, quatro!"**

**As if on queue, the band started to play and Chad could even be seen laughing at Ben's dancing.**

**"** **Oh my God! Cookie!" Evie gasped.**

**"** **What was in that cookie?" Mal wondered out loud at the same time.**

"Lonnie, did you not hear them?" Kitty asked.

"I was pretty caught up with what was going on," Lonnie told her.

**Ben:**

**Did I mention**

**That I'm in love with you?**

"Isn't it too early to think about love?" King Adam/Beast asked, forgetting in his amusement about the love potion.

**Did I mention**

**There's nothing I can do?**

**And did I happen to say**

**I dream of you everyday?**

**But let me shout it out loud**

**If that's okay-ay-ay (Hey!)**

"I was not expecting everyone else to join in," Ben said with a chuckle.

**If that's okay (Hey!)**

"Jay?" Mal asked.

"It was catchy," Jay said with a shrug.

**I met this girl who rocked my world**

**Like it's never been rocked**

"What was that dance?" Alexi chuckled.

"Very aggressive knee bending," Morgan nodded.

"Hush," their parents warned. It wouldn't do to make fun of their future king.

**And now I'm living just for her**

**And I won't ever stop**

**I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me**

**But now look at what you've done**

**You've got me down on my knees**

"Chad, you just seem very amused," Kitty said with a chuckle. "Maybe Ben wasn't the only one slipped a love potion?"

**Because my love for you is ridiculous**

**I never knew (Who knew?)**

"No one did," Akiho groaned but smiled at Carlos. Who knew that the smaller boy was strong enough to lift up Ben?

**That it could be like this**

**My love for you is ridiculous!**

**My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!)**

"Thanks for the spelling lesson!" Emma chuckled.

**It's (RIDICULOUS)**

**Just (RIDICULOUS!)**

**And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!**

Beast and Belle exchanged worried looks. Had Ben given Mal a kiss? What did they have to expect moving forward?

**Well, did I mention?**

**That I'm in love with you**

"Yes, you did," Ariana Rose sighed. The song was growing redundant.

**And did I mention**

**There's nothing I can do**

**And did I happen to say?**

**I dream of you everyday**

**But let me shout it out loud**

**If that's okay-ay-ay (Yeah!)**

**If that's okay!**

**I gotta know which way to go**

**C'mon give me a sign**

**You got to show me that**

**You're only ever going to be mine**

**Don't want to go another minute**

**Living without you**

**Cause if your heart just isn't in it**

**I don't know what I'd do**

"Mal, why did you look shocked at that?" Herkie asked.

"Honestly I don't remember," Mal said, looking over at the son of Hercules and giving him a small smile. "Maybe I was shocked that Ben's voice could go so low?"

"Seriously?" Ben groaned as everyone chuckled.

**Because my love for you is ridiculous**

**I never knew (Who knew?)**

**That it could be like this**

**My love for you is ridiculous!**

**My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!)**

**It's (RIDICULOUS)**

**Just (RIDICULOUS!)**

**And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!**

**C'mon now!**

"Nice dance moves," Brendan chuckled.

"Right back at you, dude," Ben shot back, giving a friendly jab at his tourney team mate.

**Because my love for you is ridiculous**

**I never knew (Who knew?)**

**That it could be like this**

**My love for you is ridiculous!**

**My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! (R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!)**

**It's (RIDICULOUS)**

**Just (RIDICULOUS!)**

**And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!**

**C'mon now!**

"Seriously Ben?" Belle gasped as her son was flown into the air by the male cheerleaders and then rode the wave of students to Mal. "Didn't you think about how dangerous that was?"

"Nope," Ben said and Belle blinked. "Love potion, mom?"

"Oh. Right."

"You are acting very nonchalant about this," Lonnie said with a frown. Ben, however, acted as though he hadn't heard the comment.

**Ben landed next to Mal as the band finished playing. Ben seemed to go for a kiss but Mal blocked him with his jersey that he had thrown to her.**

_Wow, didn't expect that,_ Adam thought with an impressed look toward Mal. Any girl would have gone straight for a kiss after being told by the future king that they would get his kingdom in exchange.

**"** **I love you, Mal! Did I mention that?" Ben said, breathing hard into the microphone and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.**

"Many, many times," Carlos chuckled.

**Audrey pulled Chad up to the bleachers. "Chad's my boyfriend now, and I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date," she said before kissing him.**

"Wait, did you just call me a 'pity date'?" Mal asked, looking over at Audrey.

"Well, you did spell him," Audrey sniffed. "Guess you were just jealous over what Ben and I naturally had."

Mal couldn't help but laugh. "Me? Jealous of you? Hey Audrey, you know what the love potion recipe said? It said that only true love could resist the love potion. Guess your love's not as natural as you thought."

"Besides, Ben would have had to have some feeling of attraction toward Mal or the potion wouldn't have worked in the first place," Evie added, shooting the other girl an uncharacteristically dirty look.

Meanwhile, Cinderella was busy lecturing her son.

"So you just decided to string Evie along until Audrey became available?" She asked, looking very disappointed in her son.

"No, mom. I completely forgot about that conversation with Evie," Chad said, trying to defend himself.

"I think that's worse!" Cinderella exclaimed. "That this kind girl left so little an impact on you that you forgot about a conversation you had with her that you ended by having her do your homework."

"I'm never going to leave the castle this summer, am I?" Chad muttered under his breath.

**"** **Whoa!"**

**Ben ignored Audrey and turned back to Mal. "Mal! Will you go to the coronation with me?"**

**"** **Yes!" Mal answered and couldn't help but smile.**

**"** **She said yes!" Ben shouted into the mic.**

"Why did everyone cheer when I clarified that?" Ben asked. "Mal yelled right into the mic."

**"** **Let's go Ben! The whole team's waiting for you," Jay said, pulling Ben away from Mal.**

**"** **Yeah."**

**"** **Bye," Mal waived as Ben descended the bleachers.**

**"** **What a victory! What a day for the Auradon Knights, finally winning back the trophy after so many years!"**

"Wait, wasn't that the first game of the season?" Eugene asked. "How does one game win the trophy back?"

**Mal looked over and noticed that Evie was upset over Chad and Audrey getting together.**

**"** **I feel really sorry for Audrey," Mal said.**

Many heads turned toward Mal in shock. That was the last thing anyone had suspected she would say.

**"** **You do?" Evie asked.**

**"** **Yeah, I feel like if she was talented like you, and she knew how to sew and knew beauty tips, that she wouldn't need a prince to make her feel better about herself," Mal said, trying to make her friend feel better.**

Snow White couldn't help but give her step-sister a kind smile. She knew that had to be a big shock, to have a boy who you thought liked you end up with another girl.

Belle, though, couldn't help but admit that she was surprised Mal had said that. Belle had assumed that, being from the Isle, the young girl would care only for herself and not care about her friends. Clearly this was not the case, and Belle was so happy to be wrong.

Even if said girl had slipped her son a love potion.

**"** **I guess I am kind of talented," Evie admitted.**

"Kind of?" Dizzy gasped. "Evie, you're amazing! I just wish I could have brought your sketchbook so you could have it!"

"You kept my sketchbook?" Evie exclaimed.

"Of course!" Dizzy grinned and Evie couldn't help but give the younger girl a big hug. Her mother would have destroyed it had she found it.

"Thank you Dizzy," Evie told her.

**"** **You are definitely gifted," Mal agreed.**

**"** **Thanks, M."**

**"** **Yeah, yeah!" The tourney team lifted Jay into the air. The long haired boy held the team's trophy in the air while everyone cheered.**

**"** **And there he is. Jay, the Most Valuable Player. How do you like that?"**

"No one's surprised at that," Ben said with a grin.

"Well I have to say that song was….ridiculous," Belle said with a chuckle. Ben just shook his head. He had a feeling that his parents would be making 'ridiculous' jokes for a while.


	13. Chapter 13

**Evie combed through her purse while in her chemistry classroom, clearly searching for something. The rest of the class is busy working or taking notes.**

**"Looking for something?" Mr. Deley asked, holding up the Evil Queen's mirror, as Chad slowly lifted up his head. "Thank you Chad. It's gratifying to see someone still respects the honor code."**

"How did you get Evie's mirror?" Kitty asked, turning to her older brother.

"None of your business," Chad shot back. However, his refusal to answer was noticed by both his mother and father.

"Chad Charming, you will answer," Cinderella said, glaring slightly at her son.

"I saw it in her bag when I was borrowing a pencil," Chad shrugged. "She shouldn't have had it in class, it's cheating."

"So you stole it?"

"I was doing everyone a favor. It wasn't fair to everyone else who studied if she could just look up the answer."

"Oh and how about all the guys you paid to take the test for you while you were 'sick'?" Kitty shot back. "And let's not forget about all the girls you got to do your homework.

"Also isn't stealing against the rules at Auradon Prep?" Jay asked. "You're not any better than us even if you're stealing from us."

**Chad gave Evie a smug look.**

**"It will be my recommendation that you are expelled."**

"What?!" Mal exclaimed, turning to Evie. "You never told me about that!"

"I forgot," Evie said, looking sheepish. "Your date with Ben was more pressing."

"Next time something like this happens, you tell me," Mal told her, grabbing Evie's hand.

**"Mr. Deley, I…" Evie quickly tried to come up with an explanation.**

**"But that's not fair!" Doug chimed in. "Obviously she wasn't cheating since she didn't have that…whatever it is."**

"Thank you Doug," Ben said and Mal sighed softly, her shoulders sagging in relief. The teacher would trust Doug's word at least.

**"It's called a magic mir—"**

**"You're not helping. Stop. Maybe she needed another pencil."**

**"Actually, I was—"**

**"Really, don't help. Please." Doug pleaded and then turned back to the teacher. "Please."**

"I'm with Doug on this one," Eugene muttered.

"She's frightened," Aladdin muttered back. "I bet you weren't that great of a smooth talker when you first started out."

**"Well, if you can pass this test, I'll return your property and let the matter drop," Mr. Deley said, giving in despite his wish for Evie to be expelled.**

"And I would have rejected the proposal to have her expelled," Fairy Godmother told the room. "First off, this would have been Evie's first offense that I would be aware of so expulsion would be too strict. Also, knowing that the teacher said this before a test would have meant that the result of said test would have been based off of a student not mentally prepared for the test."

"Thank you Fairy Godmother," Evie said, giving the headmistress a kind smile.

"Hey, did you ever get your mirror back?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, I did," Evie nodded. "I keep it in my room now, only using it if I need help on homework—and that's only for a last resort."

"Evie, if you want, Doug and I have a study group," Ben said, looking over at his girlfriend's best friend. "Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you want to join."

"I'd love too!" Evie beamed.

**Evie smiled and nodded her head in agreement, but shot a glare at Chad. Doug quickly got Evie's attention and silently told her to get back to her test instead of worrying about Chad.**

"Chad's asking for it," Macaria chuckled.

"We can let Ben handle it," Hyllus told her. "We've got enough on our plates, looking after Herkie and making sure he doesn't hurt anyone again."

"Yeah, dad wouldn't like it if he got another call about a broken arm," Macaria nodded. "It's not our little brother's fault though. Doesn't know his own strength."

"Hence why we're looking after him."

**Doug sat at a picnic table eating his lunch when Evie walked up behind him. She placed a test paper in front of him with a B+ written at the top.**

"WHOO!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Go Evie!" Dizzy cheered, a big grin on her face for the girl who was practically an older sister. Sure she had Ava but she was a cousin. Aunt Ana made sure Ava spent her time away from the shop. Anthony, Ava's brother, was almost like the Isle's version of Chad.

"Told you you could do it," Mal said with a smirk.

"Even if my pumpkin head of a brother caused you to have a super amount of stress right before it," Kitty added on.

**"For the first time, it's like I'm more than just a pretty face," Evie said, looking at the test with a smile.**

Snow White gave her step-sister a small smile. She was so happy to see Evie doing so well.

"Do you think you would have gotten an A if Mr. Deley hadn't said anything?" Morgan asked.

"No," Evie shook her head. "I get really nervous when I take tests—mother never cared about marks on homework but if I scored higher than a C+, she got really mad. Of course, if I failed, she got furious; always saying that a princess never failed anything. A C was always the best choice."

"It helped that our teachers never gave us As," Carlos pointed out. "A B+ was the highest anyone ever got."

"True."

**"A shocker, huh?" Doug laughed.**

**Evie sat down at the table next to Doug. "You were pretty great in there."**

**"So were you."**

"No she wasn't," Audrey scoffed. Surprisingly though, many people just ignored her. Not even Phillip Jr. gave her a reaction causing her to pout.

**"I bet I can get an 'A' on the next test without the mirror."**

"Well since Mr. Deley won't be threatening expulsion, I'd take that bet," Jay said with a smile.

**"Yeah. Well, maybe we can get together and we'll hang out with—"**

**"Yeah. Let's get together."**

"Awww!" Dizzy squealed. "You got your prince, Evie!"

Doug flushed. "I'm not a prince."

Dizzy rolled her eyes. "Aunt Ana always said her husband was her prince, even though he wasn't royalty."

"Anastasia got married?" Ben asked, shooting a look at Cinderella who was looking at Dizzy with rapt attention.

"Yeah," Dizzy nodded. "I don't know his name but he's a baker here in Auradon. Ava and Anthony get letters from him every year on their birthday plus he sends care packages with fresh baked bread."

"We've had some," Mal chimed in. "It's really good."

"Ava's a two years older than Mal so she always gives her birthday package to us," Evie explained. "She's also the only one Jay hasn't stolen from."

"Dad can't exactly sell bread," Jay shrugged.

**"There you are! I have been looking for you literally everywhere!" Mal exclaimed, briskly walking up to Doug and Evie, putting a pause on their conversation.**

"Seriously?" Dizzy groaned, causing Evie to chuckle.

"You'll change your tune soon enough."

**"What's wrong?" Evie asked.**

**"Ben just asked me out on," Mal paused halfway, as if the following words were hard to say, "a date."**

"SERIOUSLY?!" Dizzy squealed.

"I think people on the Isle heard that," Mal winced, rubbing her ear. Evie chuckled.

"Was it that bad?" Ben asked, looking at Mal. He didn't want her to feel worried or anxious about going out with him.

"No," Mal told him. "I'd just never gone on a date before and you are the future king. I didn't know what sort of reaction there'd be. Speaking of which, why didn't you have any security on our date?"

"Gave them the day off," Ben said with a smirk.

"Ben!"

"What mom?" Ben asked, turning to his mother. "I'm sure Brad and James didn't want to spend time on a teenager's date anyway. Brad had his daughter's piano recital and James' sister had just given birth. I think that's more important."

"You _are_ the future king Ben," Evie pointed out. "Your security is paramount."

"I was with Mal," Ben said with a smile. "Nothing bad could happen when I'm with her."

"Okay, someone give him an antidote quick," Emir muttered, causing Ben to smirk. "Those lovey dovey lines are going to make me sick."

**"Nice," Doug smiled and nodded his head in approval.**

**"We can handle this," Evie said, biting back a laugh. "Bye," she told Doug before getting up from the table.**

**"Bye," Doug said, watching the two of them leave.**

**"You're looking a little pale," Evie said, quickly getting to work and taking note of Mal's appearance.**

**"Yeah of course," Mal brushed it off.**

**'I can fix that with some gloss and some blush."**

**"No!"**

**"Mal, I can use the—"**

**"No, no, no!"**

**Doug went back to work, taking a sip of his drink.**

Many of the people of Auradon couldn't help but chuckle at the two girls' conversation. It felt like two regular girls getting ready for an important event, not the daughters of two of their worst villains.

**The scene changed to a shot of the outside of the school while bells rang int the distance. The two girls sat on Mal's bed as Evie applied blush to Mal's cheeks.**

**"Okay. Easy on the blush, I don't want to scare him away," Mal said. "Not that I could," she added, referring to the love spell.**

"Aww!" Some of the younger girls sighed at the thought of having a love like that.

"They do know Ben's under a love spell, right?" Evan whispered to Emir, who shrugged in response.

**"Please. My mom taught me how to apply blush before I could talk. Always use upward stokes," Evie said as she finished with the blush and grabbed some lipstick.**

"I thought she was joking," Rachel whispered to Evan. "When Evie said that earlier."

"Is that really something she would joke about?" Evan whispered back.

**"My mom was never really into makeup tips, and I never had a sister," Mal said, opening her mouth so Evie could dab the color of the lipstick on with her finger.**

Aurora couldn't help but smile at the idea of her fairy godmother doling out make up tips. Such an idea was not one that came easily.

**"Well, now you do," Evie said. "We're going to need all the family we can get if we don't pull this off. My mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way. Just ask Snow White."**

"That is true," Snow nodded.

"She tried to have you killed," Ferdinand reminded her.

"Would you say attempted murder is a barrel of laughs?" Snow asked and giggled as Ferdinand shook his head.

**"Are you afraid of her?" Mal asked.**

Snow perked up at the question, interested to see what her step sister would say.

**"Sometimes," Evie admitted, putting the makeup away. "Are you afraid of your mom?"**

Snow White couldn't help but look at her step sister with sadness in her eyes and in her heart. It seemed as though Evie had a similar childhood to hers. No child should fear their mother.

"Snow, what are you thinking?" Her husband whispered to her.

"I have to help her, Ferdinand," Snow whispered back to him. "We have plenty of room in our castle, perhaps she could stay the summer?"

"You are kind hearted, Snow, but can we risk it? It's the child of the Evil Queen—who knows if she's being sincere or just acting?"

Snow raised an eyebrow. "Why is it that everyone forgets that I was also raised by the Evil Queen? My father died when I was seven after all."

Ferdinand bowed his head. "I'm sorry Snow. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"The Evil Queen has done harm to me and the dwarves," Snow told him. "I know you are angry on my behalf, Ferdinand but Evie has done nothing but be born. She and Emma and Neal may get along—and if not, at least Evie will have friends here."

**"I just really want her to be proud of me," Mal said after a few minutes. "She gets so angry with me when I disappoint mer. And sh…yeah, she's my mom so I know she loves me…in her own way."**

"As if that witch knows anything about love," Queen Leah scoffed.

"Mother," Aurora warned.

"Briar, not here," Philip whispered. While Aurora was her given name, his wife had spent her life being known as Briar Rose, and so felt more comfortable being addressed as such. To keep up appearances though, Philip only called her that in private.

**Evie took Mal's hand. "Moving on. Come see."**

"Nice subject change," Zephyr muttered. He couldn't help but feel bad for the girls—he couldn't imagine being afraid of his parents.

**"Are we done?"**

Some of the younger girls couldn't help but chuckle at that—it reminded them of their reactions to their mothers getting their hair done.

**"Yeah," Evie guided Mal over to the large mirror in their room.**

**"Oh!" Mal exclaimed, shocked by her look.**

"Mal, you look amazing!" Dizzy squealed.

**"I know," Evie said, coming up behind her and resting her hands on Mal's shoulders.**

**"I look…"**

**"Say it."**

**"Not hideous," Mal admitted, clutching the edges of the leather jacket.**

"Hideous and Mal do not deserve to be in the same sentence," Grace whispered to Melody. "I wonder if she could teach us some tricks."

"Grace, you look amazing," Melody told her. "I think it'll be a while before we have to worry about that sort of thing."

**"Not even close."**

**There was a knock on the door. Mal looked at her reflection once more before opening the door to Ben.**

**Ben stared at Mal for a few minutes, taken aback by how she looked. "For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful."**

"Burn!" Philip Jr. whispered to himself. He loved his sister, don't get him wrong, but that was too good to miss.

**Mal snorted in amusement.**

**"I hope you like bikes," Ben said, holding up a pair of helmets. Mal took one of the helmets and threw Evie a quick look.**

"We don't really have bikes on the Isle," Mal explained.

"If we find them, they're not safe to use," Evie added on. "Most of us just get by with walking."

**Ben laughed and Evie ran up to the door while the two of them walked away. Watching for a few minutes, she quietly closed the door.**

"Seriously?" Mal raised an eyebrow at her best friend.

"What?" Evie smiled innocently causing Mal to roll her eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Ben and Mal ride on Ben's scooter on a road through the woods. Mal adjusts her grip as she held onto Ben and Ben seemed to sit up straighter. After a few minutes, they walk along a bridge, laughing and generally having fun.**

Belle couldn't help but smile at the sight of her son enjoying himself on his date. While she wished that he hadn't told his security to take the day off, it was clear that he was more free than he'd been in the castle.

Not for the first time, Belle wished Ben hadn't been born a royal and could have moments like this without the fear of someone causing him harm.

**"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone," Ben asked.**

**"Um…my middle name is Bertha," Mal told him.**

"Nice," Audrey smirked. She would have reacted more but her mother was giving her a fixed look.

**"Bertha?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Bertha."**

"Please keep repeating it Ben. It just sounds so much better when you say it multiple times," Mal said, rolling her eyes.

"I'd never heard a middle name like that before!"

"Your middle name is _Florian_ and you thought mine was bad?!"

"You said it was your mom being really, really evil!"

Adam/Beast shook his head. "Son, just stop. You're digging a hole you can't get out of."

**"Just my mom doing what she does best. Being really, really, evil. Mal Bertha."**

**"Mine's Florian."**

**"Florian?"**

"After my father," Adam/Beast said with a sad smile, remembering the man.

"We almost made it Maurice, after mine," Belle chuckled. "However Ben Maurice didn't have the same ring to it."

**"Yeah," Ben chuckled.**

**"How princely. Oh, that's almost worse," Mal said with a chuckle.**

**"I mean, you know, it's better than Bertha. But it's still not…"**

**Ben leads Mal down a wooded hill; Mal has her eyes closed. It's clear that this is meant to be a surprise.**

"So it's clear you meant it to be a surprise," Rachel said, "but you think you could have told Evie your plan? Cause those shoes are not meant for traipsing over rocks!"

"Yeah Ben," Kitty nodded. "I know shoes and those are not the best for what you had planned date wise. Especially since I know that lake has a better path not five miles north of where you were walking."

"I wanted it to be romantic," Ben shrugged.

"You can do that and still give a girl some warning so she has the proper outfit," Jamie said. "What?" She asked as she saw all the shocked looks. "I may be a tomboy but even I know it's important to dress nice for a date!"

"Besides, high heels in a rocky terrain is ridiculous," Julia finished up, causing Ben to groan.

**"Watch your foot," Ben told her. "Yeah. Are you good?"**

**"Mm-hmm."**

**"Now step up. There you go. You ready?" Ben asked, as he held her in his arms.**

**"Mm-hmm."**

"I just want to point out that takes a lot of trust," Carter called out. "Hence why my first date of choice is video games and popcorn."

"I thought it was because you hated the outdoors?" His mom asked.

"Mom!"

"Nah, it's because no one will go out with him," Travis said with a chuckle, nudging his best friend in the shoulder.

**"Open."**

**Mal opens her eyes and is shocked at what she sees. A picnic was set up on the ruins that looked out on the lake and cliffs. Mal looked over at Ben, amazed that he would set all this up.**

"Oh Mal!" Dizzy exclaimed. "It's like you're a princess!"

"It's so romantic!" Madeline sighed. Mal looked over at the brunette girl and couldn't help but smile a little. The younger girl looked like a toned down version of Dizzy. Hopefully the two would become friends.

**"Go on," Ben told her and Mal made her way down. Mal and Ben sit on the blanket, Ben lying on his side while Mal sits upright with her legs curled under her.**

"This is why we tell people date plans!" Robyn Hood said with a smirk. "Pants would have been better."

"You always think pants are better," Roland teased his sister.

**"Mm," Mal exclaimed as she took a bite of one of the items Ben had brought along.**

**"Is this your first time?" Ben asked.**

**"Mm, we don't really date much on the island. It's more like…gang activity," Mal told him.**

"Gang activity was the nicest way you could have described it," Carlos chuckled.

"And yet, you had a flirtationship with Harry Hook for about three years," Jay teased his best friend.

"That was before he joined Shrimpy's gang," Mal told them, matter of fact. "Besides, a flirtationship, as you put it Jay, is not a relationship. Uma can have Harry."

"Can I still be friends with C.J?" Dizzy asked.

"Of course," Mal said, smiling a little. "But if Harry tries to use that friendship with his sister to get you to join Uma's gang, I get to hurt him, right?"

"Right!"

"Good girl," Mal smirked.

"You would have hurt Harry regardless, right?" Evie whispered.

"Of course," Mal whispered back. "No one messes with Dizzy—besides I think Uma would have hurt him first. Everyone on the Isle knows Dizzy's off limits thanks to our parents."

**"Um, I meant is this your first time eating a jelly donut?" Ben asked, laughing a bit. Mal froze.**

**"Is it bad?"**

"Yes to both questions," William said with a chuckle.

"William," Wasabi warned his son and gave him a look. The last thing Mal needed was to be embarrassed for enjoying something she couldn't get normally at home.

**Ben sat up and reached over, wiping the crumbs from Mal's lips. "You got a…just a..I mean, yeah, do this," he said before pressing his lips together.**

Many of the younger girls sighed as Ben brushed some of the crumbs off of Mal's lips.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss," Margot Hood muttered under her breath. Robyn shook her head at her little sister.

**Mal gave him a look before following the instructions, licking her lips and closed her mouth. "Mm-hmm. Gone? You can't take me anywhere, I guess."**

"Oh come on!"

"Margot, stop it," Robyn warned.

"You want to see it as much as I do, Robyn!"

"Well, yeah, but Ben and Mal deserve their privacy."

**"You know, I've done all the talking," Ben said, lying back down. "Your turn. I really don't know that much about you. Tell me something."**

**Mal sighed. "Well I'm sixteen, I'm an only child, and I've only ever lived in one place."**

"Wait, hasn't she lived in two places?" Pin asked. "The Isle and Auradon?"

"That's a good question," his father replied.

**"Me too! That…we have so much in common already," Ben said with a laugh.**

"You have nothing in common, Benny…Ben," Audrey sniffed but stopped herself from using the nickname from their relationship. He was spelled—he'd be back.

**"No, trust me. We do not," Mal told him but kept a smile on her face as she forced a laugh. "And now you're going to be king."**

**"Yeah," Ben said, looking down.**

**"What?"**

**"A crown doesn't make you a king," Ben said, seemingly upset at his statement. It was as if he didn't think himself good enough for his crown.**

"Um….it helps," Carlos pointed out.

"Ben, I wouldn't step down if I didn't think you'd be a good king or if you weren't ready to be king," Adam/Beast said, giving his son a smile.

"Your majesty, why are you stepping down?" Dizzy asked. "If you don't mind my asking?"

Adam/Beast gave the small girl a kind smile. It was rare that someone would just come out and ask for information instead of trying to sneak around. "I owe my wife a honeymoon."

Dizzy smiled, happy with the answer—even though she knew it probably wasn't the whole story.

**"Well it kind of does," Mal pointed out.**

"Carlos and Mal think alike!" Jay exclaimed. "Run!"

"Shut it Jay!" Carlos and Mal shouted at the older boy.

**"No, it….your mother is Mistress of Evil and I've got the poster parents for goodness," Ben explained. "But we're not automatically like them. We get to choose who we're going to be. And right now, I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil. I can see it."**

"You need your eyes checked," Chad scoffed. He never noticed the spoon of chocolate pudding aimed for his head.

"KATHERINE ELLA CHARMING!" Cinderella exclaimed as Chad sat shocked, half his face dripping with the chocolate pudding.

"Yes mother?" Kitty said with an innocent look on her face, a look betrayed by the spoon she was still holding.

"We will talk about this when we get home, young lady," Cinderella told her.

"Nice one!" Kit mouthed as Cinderella went to get some napkins to help Chad clean up. Sure, he loved his son but his eldest child needed to be brought back down to earth sometimes.

**The two look at each other for a minute before Ben looks over at the lake. "Let's go for a swim," Ben said, attempting to lighten the mood.**

"Good idea," Arabella beamed.

"Swimming's always a good idea," Melody agreed, smiling at her cousin.

**"Hm? What?! Uh, right now?" Mal asked, taken aback.**

**"Yeah, right now!" Ben said, unbuttoning his shirt.**

"Please keep doing that," Emma muttered under her breath. Many girls perked up as they longed to see what the future king kept hidden under his shirts and tourney uniform.

**"I think I'm just going to stay here."**

**"No, no, no. Come on!" Ben said, reaching out his hand for Mal to take.**

"I was so used to Audrey taking control of our dates," Ben said. "Of course, they always involved shopping of some kind."

"I needed to look my best!" Audrey shouted.

"Every weekend? The store owners knew us by name!"

"Some of those clothes were last season," Audrey sniffed causing Ben to roll his eyes.

**"I think I'm going to stay behind and try a strawberry, I've literally never tried a strawberry before," Mal said, biting into one so that Ben would buy her excuse. "Mm!" Her eyes widened as she truly tasted the strawberry. "Mm…" she hummed with delight and continued to eat it.**

"So you're the one who started the strawberry obsession," Evie turned and faced Ben. "Do you know how hard it is to get strawberry juice out of dresses?"

"Umm?"

"The answer's very," Evie told him. "Make sure they're sliced and that Mal has a fork. Otherwise, she's going to have nothing to wear on her dates with you."

"I'm sure Ben's fine with that!" Li shouted.

"And I'm fine with contacting your parents, Li," Mulan shot back. "I'm sure Ting-Ting would be thrilled to know that this is how a prince acts away from his parents."

**"Don't eat all of them," Ben said with a chuckle as he walked away.**

**"Okay," Mal said before continuing to devour the strawberries. "Ooh! Mm!"**

"Note to self: stock up on strawberries," Fairy Godmother muttered to herself. After finding out that the kids from the Isle ate garbage for most of their lives, she was happy to see Mal enjoying the strawberries. She could only hope that the other children found food that they enjoyed as well.

**Ben climbed up onto a rock that faced the picnic area, wearing only a pair of swim trunks. Mal turned her head and noticed that Ben was about to dive in. Getting up, she leaned against one of the pillars. Ben gave her a little wave.**

"Are those crowns on your shorts?" Miguel asked.

"Audrey picked them out the last time we went shopping," Ben said. "I agreed just because of the blue and gold."

"There are other colors, you know," Miguel told him.

"I like blue and gold, dude!"

Meanwhile, a lot of the girls in Ben and Mal's year were perking up at the sight of the future king's abs. They were always hidden by his shirts and tourney jersey that no one knew they existed.

**"Are those little crowns on your shorts?" Mal yelled.**

**Ben looked down, as if unsure about who's shorts Mal was referring to. "Maybe!" He called back, embarrassed as he rubbed his hands on his shorts.**

"So when I ask, he's fine but when his girlfriend asks, he gets all embarrassed and his voice cracks," Miguel chuckled.

"Miguel," Moana warned her son. There was a line you did not cross when teasing the future king.

**Mal waved and Ben waved back. He gave a roar before jumping into the water below. "Whoo! Ha-ha!"**

"Did he just…?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I didn't ask."

"But Mal!"

"Evie, it's better not to ask. Royalty's strange enough."

Belle, though, looked at her son in shock. She knew what lake that was. For him to still be with Mal after jumping in would mean either she had reapplied the potion somehow or…or he truly loved her.

Looking at the interactions, Belle had to assume that it was the later.

**Mal laughed with him and turned away as Ben swam off.**

**Mal:**

**A million thoughts in my head**

**Should I let my heart keep listening?**

"Mal?" Evie turned and looked at her best friend. Mal just shook her head. She just wanted the song to be over with; the last thing she wanted was for the entire school to see her doubt and uncertain. Again.

**Cause up 'til now, I've walked the line**

**Nothing lost, but something missing.**

"You have a beautiful voice dear," Fairy Godmother said, giving Mal a kind smile as she knew that it wouldn't have been easy to have her insecurities displayed the whole school. "You should really think about joining the choir."

"I'll consider it," Mal said, giving Fairy Godmother a small smile.

**I can't decide what's wrong, what's right**

**Which way should I go?**

"Back home, hopefully," Queen Lean sniffed.

"Oh, honestly mother," Aurora sighed. Couldn't her mother see how torn Mal was? Was that really something a 'villain' would be?

**If only I knew what my heart was telling me**

**Don't know what I'm feeling**

**Is this just a dream?**

"If it's a dream, then it's a really good dream," Carlos said softly, not wanting to take away from the moment. It was jarring to see Mal, their leader, so unsure about what was going on.

But at the same time, it was pretty comforting to know that Mal had those feelings too. At least now, Carlos knew that he could talk to Mal if not the rest of the squad.

**Ah oh, yeah!**

**If only I could read the signs in front of me**

Dizzy couldn't help but grin at seeing Mal and Ben's first meeting, having missed it the first time it was shown.

A few of the adult Auradonians couldn't help but comment to their neighbors about the progression Mal had made throughout the memories, even noting that the purple in her outfits seemed to be lighter as well.

**I could find a way to who I'm meant to be!**

**Ah oh, if only**

**If only**

**If only**

**If only**

"Sound familiar?" Aladdin muttered.

"Oh, you mean like all of us?" Eugene muttered back, referring to the 'Learning to be Royal' club. "We should invite Mal-if Ben's going to be dating her for long, she'll need us to help guide her through the snake pit of royal life."

"Maybe once the whole 'all my thoughts and plots are being revealed to the whole school' thing dies down," Tiana chimed in, having moved toward the group once she noticed that several members had congregated toward each other. "She's a nice girl though. She'd be a great addition—plus I'd love to cook some food for the kids on the Isle. I think they'd need it."

"Let me know if you need any help," Rapunzel told her. While she had been born royal, she had never lived as a princess until Eugene helped her return home to her mom and dad. It was why, with Belle's help, that they formed the group in the first place-to help those new to royal life have a helping hand and a sympathetic ear.

**Every step, every word**

**With every hour, I'm falling in**

**To something new, something brave**

**To someone I, I have never been.**

"But that's just it," Ben said, turning to his girlfriend. "You've always been this person. Even your stories from your time on the Isle aren't that bad—just usual kid behavior."

"You call dumping a basket of rotting shrimp on Uma 'normal' kid behavior?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No but I'd like to know the story about that now."

"Me too!" Lonnie chimed in.

"Oh! We should have a sleepover and all tell stories!" Kitty squealed. "Hot chocolate and s'mores!"

Five pairs of eyes looked at her in confusion. "Smore what?" Carlos asked.

"No! S'mores! You know, toasted marshmallow on top of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers?"

"She's gone insane," Mal told Ben.

"It's an actual thing," Ben said with a chuckle. "When the weather gets colder, we can make some."

**I can't decide**

**What's wrong, what's right**

**Which way should I go?**

"Again, back to the Isle," Chad muttered. Why was no one on his side for this? They were clearly villains! Heck, Mal even went after Queen Leah at Parent's Day!

"I heard that Chad," Cinderella scolded her son. Then, in a move that startled everyone, she got up and sat next to Chad. "I think some mother-son time is in order. Don't you?"

**If only I knew what my heart was telling me**

**Don't know what I'm feeling**

**Is this just a dream?**

**Ah oh, yeah**

Belle looked over at her son's girlfriend and couldn't help but give her a sad smile. She hoped that Mal would realize that she was available if Mal needed anyone to talk to—or didn't want to talk to her friends about her problems.

**If only I could read the signs in front of me**

**I could find a way to who I'm meant to be**

**Ah oh, if only**

**Yeah**

**Am I crazy? Maybe we could happen**

"Yeah, you are crazy," Audrey sniffed. "You could only get Ben because you spelled him."

"Audrey, enough," Phillip Sr. warned his daughter.

**Yeah**

**Will you still be with me when the magic's all run out?**

No one dared to comment, knowing exactly what Mal meant. At some point, the love potion would be removed. Ben gently rested a hand on Mal's and gave it a soft squeeze; as if to reassure her that he would always be there.

**If only I knew what my heart was telling me**

**Don't know what I'm feeling**

**Is this just a dream?**

**Ah oh!**

"Anyone else hear Ben's voice in the background?" Evie asked.

"I definitely hear a man's voice," Rachel nodded. "It might be Ben's."

**If only I could read the signs in front of me**

**I could find a way to who I'm meant to be**

**Ah oh**

**If only, yeah**

**If only, yeah**

**If only, yeah**

**If only, yeah**

**If only**

**If only**

**Mal sat at the end of the platform and noticed Ben was nowhere in sight.**

Belle froze and grabbed Adam/Beast's arm in fear. She knew that Ben was a strong swimmer but anything could have happened.

**"Ben?" She called. "Ben? Ben!" Each call for Ben grew more worried until finally, Mal jumped into the water and tried to swim but struggled as she got caught in a deep spot, almost submerging herself.**

"Don't you dare scare us like that!" Evie shouted, hugging Mal as tight as she could.

"Evie, choking, not breathing!"

"Seriously M, what were you thinking? Oh, I can't swim so I'm going to search for Ben in a _lake_?"

"Can someone pry her off?"

"And in a dress no less!"

**Ben emerged from the water, taking Mal in his arms and carrying her to safety.**

"Thank you Ben!" Evie exclaimed, finally releasing Mal from the hug.

"Yes, thank you _Ben_!" Mal echoed, giving her two male friends a look as they were laughing at her expense.

**"You scared me!" Mal exclaimed after she had finished coughing up the water she'd swallowed, whacking him on the arm.**

"She's not the only one who was scared!" Belle exclaimed. "Ben, don't ever do that again!"

"Yes mom," Ben nodded. He could see now why Mal was so freaked out. He hadn't meant to go so far, but swimming was the one time that he felt truly free. Even tourney didn't have the same effect and he got lost in his thoughts.

**"You…you can't swim?" Ben asked, slightly shocked.**

"No duh, genius!" Mal exclaimed. "None of us from the Isle can swim!"

"But you live on an island," Evan spoke up.

"That's surrounded by a barrier," Evie told him. "No one gets in, no one gets out."

**"No!"**

**"You live on an island!"**

**"Yeah, with a barrier around it, remember? Ugh!"**

"That's a good point," Melody nodded while Grace laughed at the similarity to the comments made before and the dialogue coming from the screen.

"Mal," Ariel spoke up, "would you be interested in a swimming lesson? In fact, the offer's available to all of you!"

Dizzy grinned but Mal and Evie looked apprehensive.

"I don't know," Mal said.

"Please Mal?" Dizzy asked, turning toward the older girl.

Mal sighed. She always had a hard time saying no to Dizzy. "One lesson—and we're paying for it."

"Deal!" Melody agreed before Ariel could argue.

"Dear, you know I give all your friends free lessons," Ariel whispered to Melody.

"Yeah, and I'll explain that to them when they come for the lesson," Melody told her mom. "Right now though, Mal just had her insecurities broadcasted to the school. A free lesson would look like pity—and I don't think the Isle kids really want pity."

**"And you still tried to save me," Ben said, a smile gracing his face.**

"Well I hate to be that person but if you drowned without any security around, Mal would have been the number one suspect," Jasmine pointed out.

"We're obviously very happy that's not the case," Anna said with a smile.

"Most of us," Kristoff muttered, shooting a glance at Queen Leah. Honestly, she was worse than Hans in his opinion.

**"Yeah, and do you thank me? No! All I get is soaking wet!" Mal said, frustrated and trying to straighten out her dress.**

"Evie would have killed me if that dress came back wrinkled," Mal said. "I honestly didn't care either way."

**Ben got out a rock he had been carrying. "And, uh, this fancy rock. It's yours. Make a wish and throw it back into the lake." Ben smiled and gave it to Mal.**

"Really dude?" Li chuckled.

"Not the best time," Brendan pointed out. "She's clearly mad at you."

**Mal gave Ben a look and plopped the rock back into the water near the platform before getting up to walk away from Ben.**

"Rachel," Rowyn whispered. "That lake, isn't that?"

"Hush," Rachel shushed her little sister but nodded all the same.

"And Ben's still with Mal?" Rose whispered to her siblings, bouncing a little from her excitement.

"You're going to draw attention to yourselves," Evan sighed, whispering to the three of them.

**Ben quickly followed her, hopping up on to the platform and grabbed his jacket. He draped it over Mal's shoulders and proceeded to dry off. Ben played with a strand of Mal's hair as the two stared at each other.**

"How romantic!" Morgan sighed. Her father looked over at Giselle only to see her texting on her phone.

"What?" Giselle asked.

"Who are you texting? Everyone we know is already here!"

Giselle shot him a look. "I was texting Nancy. I wanted to invite her and Edward over. That way, there's not any shock if Ben and Mal travel to their land."

"Ben's spelled though."

"You didn't pay attention to the lake they were at, did you?" Giselle asked and then gave her husband a peck on the cheek before he could respond.

**"Uh, Mal? I told you that I loved you. What about you? Do you love me?" Ben asked.**

_You're spelled, Ben!_ Audrey thought, longing to say her words out loud but knew her words would not be welcomed. _That's not real love!_

**Mal was quiet for a while before finally turning away. "I don't know what love feels like."**

"None of us really do," Carlos shrugged.

"I literally sang "I never got no love," Evie pointed out. "Love isn't a thing on the Isle. We curse the idea of love, mainly because it's what defeated our parents."

"Or rather, our parents curse the idea of love," Jay added.

"I like love!" Dizzy chimed in. "Love makes Aunt Ana happy—the baker's letters always give her a taste of the sun, or so she says."

Cinderella couldn't help but smile at the thought of Anastasia being in love with the man she married. Hopefully, they could be reunited soon.

**Ben reached for Mal's chin and turned her face so that she was looking at him. "Maybe I can teach you."**

"Smooth," Miguel chuckled.

"Blue Fairy," Ben called out. "If you wouldn't mind pausing for a bit, there's something I need to talk to Mal about."

"Of course young prince," the Blue Fairy smiled. "There's a door right behind you if you require privacy."

"When did that get there?" Evie asked, looking over her shoulder at the door.

"Magic."


	15. Chapter 15

Ben held the door open for Mal and waited for her to walk through before closing the door behind him. There was no need for the whole school and their parents to hear their conversation. Heck, there was no need for his parents to hear their conversation.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Mal asked. Despite her cool demeanor, Ben could tell that she was nervous, judging by the way she was holding her hands. Ben couldn't help but feel sad—the last thing he wanted to do was make her nervous in any way; especially after watching the last bit of film.

"Mal, do you know what that lake was that we went to on our date?" Ben asked, hoping the sadness wasn't audible in his voice.

"No," Mal shook her head. "I mean, I assumed there was magic based on all the sparkles in the air."

"You could see that?"

Mal shot him a look. "Half fairy, Ben," she said, shaking her head. "Magic is a part of me, just like it's a part of Jane. We're going to have to be allowed to use our magic and not get judged for it otherwise it's not going to be pretty. But I'm getting off topic."

Ben took a deep breath, hoping that Mal wouldn't freak out when he told her what exactly that lake was. "It's known as the Enchanted Lake. It's one of the most powerful magical locations we have."

"Powerful how?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It can wash away any enchantment, curses, or potion," Ben told her and Mal stiffened upon hearing the word potion.

"You mean?"

"Yep."

"So the rest of the date, Family Day. You weren't—?"

"Nope," Ben told her, popping the p and giving her a small smile. Mal looked at him, uncertainly dancing in her eyes.

"So what? You've just been faking it the whole time?" Mal asked and Ben could feel his heart break at the slight quiver in her voice. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel like the relationship wasn't real. Yeah he had assumed at first that it was because Mal had a crush on him but even knowing what he knew now, he didn't mind the love potion.

Mal had an opportunity to kiss him while he was under the love potion—she didn't take it. She could have used that chance to take over the kingdom and all she did was go on a date with him.

Gently grabbing Mal's hand, Ben closed the distance between the two of them.

"I haven't been faking anything," he said, his voice a near whisper as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. Placing his other hand on the back of Mal's head, Ben gently placed a kiss on her lips. He couldn't help but smile after a few minutes as Mal returned the kiss.

Unbeknownst to them, a burst of rainbow light filled the room the moment Ben's lips touched Mal's.

"I love you Mal," Ben said as they broke apart. "Did I mention that?"

Mal paused as she heard that, realizing that Ben was off the love potion when he had asked if she loved him. This entire time, Ben had been off the love potion and he wasn't mad with her or breaking up with her.

He honestly was too perfect to be real—she was a villain! Why wasn't he freaking out?

"I think you're being ridiculous," Mal said with a smirk, hoping Ben didn't notice her pause, and causing Ben to groan.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"It's harmless," Mal told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "At least you're not Chad or Audrey. I think they're going to spend their entire summers inside their castles at the rate they're going."

"True," Ben chuckled but sobered as he thought of his former best friend and ex-girlfriend. "I should have stopped Chad and Audrey's behavior toward you guys. I'm sorry Mal."

Mal rolled her eyes. "How many times do we have to tell you? We're the children of villains! People being nice just for the sake of being nice is a foreign concept."

"Well, between Kitty and Emir, you guys won't be lacking in 'nice' tutors," Ben told her with a chuckle.

"You're forgetting someone," Mal told him.

"Who?"

"You," Mal told him and kissed him gently on the cheek. "You've been genuinely nice to all of us since we've got here. I don't know if we've ever thanked you for that."

"You don't have to," Ben told her. The last thing he wanted was for someone to thank him for acting the way his parents had raised him.

Mal chuckled and then quickly changed the subject. "So, should we we rejoin the group before Queen Leah convinces them all to think I've reapplied the love potion and they break down the door?"

"I'd rather stay here with you," Ben told her, a coy smile dancing on his lips as he grabbed her other hand.

"Okay, Emir was right," Mal told him, heading for the door and gently pulled her hands out of his grasp. "Your lovey-dovey lines are nauseatingly sweet, even when you're off the love potion."

Ben let out a laugh and followed her to the door, where he once again held it open for her. The sight he saw on the other side of the door, though, was enough for him to want to yank the door back and stay in the room with Mal.

Cinderella, one of the nicest royals Ben knew, was currently busy lecturing her son while Aurora was doing the same with her mother. The only time Ben could remember Chad getting lectured in public was the time he had put a spider down Kitty's shirt when Ben and Chad were five.

"Did we go to the wrong room?" Mal asked, staring at the scene in shock.

"There was only one door," Ben told her, his voice faint with shock as well. "Let's sit down."

Mal and Ben quickly made their way back to their group of friends; no one noticed them as they were all staring at Cinderella and Aurora.

"Mal!" Evie exclaimed when she finally noticed her best friend.

Okay, so Mal poking her in the back might have helped.

"What did you guys talk about?" Evie asked, pulling Mal off to the side; Ben not even noticing as he stared at the melee with rapt attention in case he needed to step in as a representative of his parents and as the future king.

"Sorry, Evie, not going to spill," Mal told her with a smirk, causing Evie to gasp in shock.

"Secret secrets are no fun! Tell me know or else we're done!" The blue haired girl pouted but Mal looked nonplused.

"Really? Hadie's little saying?"

"What?"

"You'll have to do better than copying my little br-bother of a neighbor," Mal told her, quickly correcting herself before anyone overheard her.

"Nice save," Evie told her with a smirk.

"Shut it," Mal muttered and the two of them moved back to the rest of the group. "So, what exactly happened to make the two nicest princesses in the room go berserk?"

"Oh," Evie shrugged. "Chad."

"What did he say?" Mal sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Made a comment about my magic mirror. Said I should have been expelled for having it and that Mr. Deley favored me by giving me the B+."

"But that's generic Chad," Mal said, but still turned to glare at the prince. That's when she noticed Dizzy sitting next to Kitty, Melody and Grace; the red haired girl clutching what looked to be an ice pack.

"Evie?" Mal asked as she got up, her voice flat and yet cold as ice. The only other time her voice had ever gone that cold was when she had to deal with Uma back on the Isle.

"Chad didn't watch his hands during his rant and accidentally backhanded Dizzy when she was getting some more food," Evie told her, getting to stand next to her. "The boys were ready to kill—Cinderella was lucky she got to Chad before we did."

"And the reason the wicked witch is getting chewed out is?"

"She said Dizzy deserved it," Evie told her, her voice near a whisper but still filled with more loathing than Mal thought her best friend was capable of. Mal whipped her head around toward Evie, her green eyes glowing.

" _What_?"

"Uh-oh!" Carlos exclaimed and dove behind Jay.

"Aurora's handling it," Evie told her. "If it helps, even Audrey seemed shocked by the comment."

"It doesn't," Mal growled. While she wasn't as close to Dizzy as Evie was, she still cared for the younger girl. There was an innocence in Dizzy that Mal wished someone had protected in her and Evie and Carlos and Jay. "Where's her food?"

"It scattered all over the floor," Jay told her, getting up and standing next to the girls. "Jasmine stopped her from putting it back on the plate and some of the other royals cleaned it up. At least some of the other kids will get something decent when it ends up on the Isle."

"So Dizzy has no food?"

"Unless Kitty or the other girls got some, no she doesn't," Carlos said, joining the rest of the squad. Mal took a deep breath and started to dole out responsibilities.

"Alright, Jay and Carlos. You're on food duty—if you guys can remember what was on her plate before it spilled, all the better. Get a nice big plate full. Evie, go help Kitty, Melody and Grace. Dizzy could use a familiar face right now. Knowing Leah from my mother's stories, she didn't just end with saying Dizzy deserved to see the back of Chad's hand."

"What about you?" Evie asked.

"I'm going to go stand in that corner over there until the urge to beat that pampered prince and the gormless grandma into next week subsides," Mal said, pointing to the corner behind them. "If I rant or do anything untoward, that will only help Leah's stance against us."

"You're sure?" Evie asked.

"No, of course I'm not sure!" Mal snapped. "I want to pummel Chad into the ground. But you don't have magic Evie. You don't know what it's like, feeling the magic threatening to overspill every time you get a little bit annoyed or frustrated. Being around Chad and Leah and Audrey has made it like a ticking time bomb."

"Do you want me to get Jane?" Evie asked.

"Why?"

"She might know some stuff that could help," Evie pointed out. "She's half fairy after all."

"Oh, like she and her mother helped at Family Day when Leah was spouting off that anti fairy nonsense?" Mal scoffed.

"You're being stubborn," Evie told her but Mal shot her a look, causing Evie to sigh. "Jay, Carlos, you heard her."

"Food, right," Jay nodded and the two of them made their way to the food table while Evie made her way over to the group of girls. Mal planted herself in the corner and tried to calm down but every time she thought she was calm, the thought of Chad hitting Dizzy entered her head and it made her so mad.

"The trick is to face the wall," Jane's voice entered her thoughts and Mal looked to see the smaller brunette girl standing next to her. "I had to do it earlier."

"Really?" Mal asked.

"Yeah," Jane nodded. "Since mom doesn't really allow magic, I haven't been trained as I should be so my magic spikes sometimes. It's why I was so timid when you first met me—it's easier to tamp my magic down when I was scared than when I was happy or excited."

Mal looked at her. "So, I just need to face the wall?"

"Pretty much," Jane nodded. "I don't know why but it works."

Mal paused for a minute and then proceeded to turn toward the corner and closed her eyes. She didn't see Jane stand in front of her back to prevent any attacks, she didn't see Ben getting into an argument with Chad. She didn't see Dizzy's eyes light up as Jay and Carlos brought her a huge plate of food and she didn't see Queen Leah stalk off as Aurora finished her rant.

All she knew was that for the first time in a while, her magic felt calm instead of like an ocean in a storm. Mal opened her eyes and knew, without even looking, that the glow had vanished.

"You good?" Jane asked, giving her a smile.

"All good," Mal said and returned the smile. "You want to sit with us?"

Jane looked at Mal in shock. "You're asking _me_ to sit with you guys?"

"Why not?" Mal asked. "We seem to be bringing new people in with every viewing. Sides, it'd be nice to have a fellow magic user around."

"Hey Mal?" Jane said as they turned to walk toward the group. "I'm sorry for what Chad did….and how he's been treating you guys. He used to be my best friend growing up but now it's like I don't know him at all."

Mal turned to Jane. "Chad's not your responsibility. He's not Ben's responsibility and he's not Audrey's responsibility. The only one responsible for him is Chad—and maybe Cinderella but since she raised Kitty as well, I'm going to keep responsibility on Chad."

"Thanks Mal," Jane said with a smile.

"What is with people today wanting to be responsible for Chad?" Mal asked, shaking her head. "First Ben, now you. Last I checked, Chad was a big boy so he should be responsible for himself."

"Sometimes it's hard to forget that," Ben said as he walked up to his girlfriend. "Evie told me what happened."

"How's Dizzy?" Mal asked, looking for the young redhead.

"Surprisingly okay, after Kitty, Melody, Grace, and Evie took care of her," Ben said with a chuckle. "Though I don't think anything could keep her down for long. I need to remember to write to her mother and send an official invitation for Dizzy to come to Auradon Prep."

Mal stared at Ben in shock. "Really?"

"Of course," Ben told her. "The whole idea was to bring more children from the Isle after the first four. Dizzy would be a great candidate for the second wave of students, and if you know anyone else let me know."

"Evie and I will get you a list, Ben," Mal said after shaking off the shock. "Thank you Ben. We can handle going back to the Isle but I don't think Dizzy could, not after getting a taste of the sun."

Ben frowned. "What do you mean go back to the Isle?"

"For the holidays," Mal told him. "I assumed the school closed and everyone went home. The Isle is home."

Now it was Ben's turn to stare at his girlfriend in shock. "You actually think that after what we've seen of the Isle, we'd just send you back?"

"You locked us up there in the first place and all we did was be born," Mal reminded him.

Ben sighed, knowing she was right. "Mom and I have had several families inquiring about what we were doing for foster placement for you guys for the holidays. I made it so that if the child wants it, we could set something up. I'm not separating a child from their parents."

"Parent," Mal corrected. "Most, if not all, of us have one parent."

"Then I'm not separating them from their parent unless they don't want to go back," Ben told her, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Mal, I promise. The only reason you'd ever go back to the Isle is if you wanted to."

Mal stared at Ben, unsure of what to feel. It was like a dream, but in dreams you wake up. In dreams, you learn that your reality is the truth and you wake up back on the Isle.

"We should get back," Jane said, shifting awkwardly from her spot behind Mal. "I don't think the Blue Fairy will allow us to pause for very long."

"Right!" Mal nodded, quickly going to her spot.

"Jane, are you joining us?" Ben asked, shooting a smile to the headmistress's daughter.

"Mal invited me," Jane told him, as she sat next to Emir. Dizzy was already sitting down next to Kitty, and Melody and Grace had made their way toward the edges of the group though Evie was trying to convince them to move closer in.

"We don't want to intrude," Melody said.

"But you helped Dizzy," Evie told her. "You wouldn't be intruding—Dizzy and I invited you to sit with us."

Mal sighed and shook her head. They'd move in closer at some point. She sat down next to Ben.

"Are we ready to continue?" The Blue Fairy asked, and Evie scrambled to her seat.

"Yes ma'am," Ben nodded.

"Very well," the Blue Fairy smiled and waved her wand for the film to resume.


	16. Chapter 16

**The scene opens up on a shot of the outside of the school before quickly going into the Remedial Goodness 101 classroom.**

**"** **Children, excuse me," Fairy Godmother excitedly walked toward the VKs, who sat at their desks. "Um, as you know, uh, this Sunday is Family Day here at Auradon Prep, and because your parents can't be here due to, uh, distance, we've arranged for a special treat."**

"Oh gods," Evie groaned, remembering the fiasco that was the 'treat'. She didn't blame Fairy Godmother of course. There was no way she would know what their parents would act like.

"What happened?" Jane asked.

"You'll see," Mal told her, inwardly groaning at the fit Queen Leah was going to throw upon seeing her mother.

**Fairy Godmother giggled and happily made her way to the front of the room where a TV had been set up. She clicked a button and Maleficent's face popped on the screen.**

"Oh mother," Aurora sighed as Queen Leah jumped at seeing Maleficent's face but thankfully did not pull Audrey into her grasp. Granted, the giant face of any of the villains would be terrifying to look at.

**"** **I don't see anything, nor do I hear," Maleficent appeared in the camera and it looked as though she was a bit too close as her entire face took up the screen.**

"So that's her weakness? Technology?" Philip Jr. whispered. He didn't want to have Mal hear his question—while he may not care for Maleficent, he liked Mal. It was clear that Mal was trying to be good, even with the mission forced on her by her mother.

**Fairy Godmother waved the kids over. "Kids!"**

**Maleficent struggled with getting the video conference to work. "Is it…is it…is …"**

**"** **Press enter," Jafar suggested, looking very confused.**

"Most powerful sorcerer in the land and can't figure out how to work a conference call," Jasmine shook her head.

**"** **Can I please see a remote?" Maleficent asked, her voice growing louder the more irritated she became. "Is this thing on? Ugh, I hate electronic equip…oh!" The monitor turned on, giving them a view of their children.**

"Can't even manage technology," Leah sniffed.

"But grandmother, why would she?" Phillip Jr. asked. "Maleficent's been on the Isle for twenty years—a lot has changed in terms of technology in that time and as Mal said in the beginning they don't even have wifi."

"Don't talk back to your elders, Phillip. A prince doesn't argue."

"And a grandmother shouldn't play favorites," Phillip Jr. muttered. He knew that if Audrey had said that, Leah would have called her the most brilliant princess in the land.

**The Evil Queen exclaimed with delight upon seeing Evie. "Evie! It's mommy!" She waved to her daughter.**

"Is she actually happy to see Evie?" Snow asked, shocked yet delighted that Evie had some love from her mother.

"Maybe she changed," Ferdinand told her, grabbing Snow's hand and giving his wife a smile. "Do you still want Evie to spend the summer with us?"

"I'll reach out to my step-mother," Snow told him. "Ultimately, it will be Evie's decision but my step mother is Evie's parent. She deserves to know where her daughter is."

"How will you get in contact with her?"

"I'll have to ask Ben."

**Evie smiled and waved back at her mother.**

**"** **Oh! Look how beautiful. Oh, you know what they say, the poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree."**

"Oh of course, she has to make it all about herself," Snow rolled her eyes. Heaven forbid a complement just be a complement.

**"** **Don't you mean the weeds?" Maleficent shot back. Jafar laughed and Maleficent smirked, seemingly proud of her comment.**

"What did that even mean?" Grace asked.

"I don't know," Mal sighed.

**"** **Ooh! Who's the old bat?" Cruella asked, rather loud.**

"Takes one to know one," Lucy Charming muttered, though not as quiet as she had thought as her father gave her a look. Though she also got a high five so it wasn't all bad.

**"** **This is Fairy Godmother," Mal said, slightly embarrassed by their parents' behavior.**

"This will be awkward," Paige muttered, looking longingly over at her twin sister who was sitting by Mal and the others. She wished she could be as brave as Grace to sit with people she didn't know.

**"** **Still doing tricks with eggplants?" Maleficent asked, causing the four villains to laugh.**

**"** **I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage!" Fairy Godmother shot back, offended by the jab.**

"It really was beautiful, Fairy Godmother," Cinderella smiled at her friend. "Thank you again for one of the best nights of my life."

"It was my pleasure dear," Fairy Godmother smiled back at her.

**"** **You really couldn't give Cinderella till 1 a.m?" Maleficent continued. "I mean, really? What, the hamsters had to be back on their little wheels?" Maleficent bumped fists with the Evil Queen.**

"That's not how magic works," Jane groaned.

"She's just trying to get a rise out of your mother at this point," Mal sighed. "How do you know about magic if your mom didn't teach you?"

"Books do still exist around here, you know."

**"** **They were mice!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed, trying to defend herself while Mal began to move her out of the way of the camera to avoid an even more heated conversation. "They were not…they were mice."**

"Mal to the rescue!" Melody grinned.

"Yeah, props for making that not as awkward as it could have been," Emir chuckled.

"Thanks…I think."

**"** **Thank you so much. Thank you," Mal told the Fairy Godmother. "Hi mom," Mal greeted her mother.**

**"** **Mal!" Maleficent jumped at the sight of her daughter. "I m-m-miss you!" She struggled to utter the words.**

"Can't even tell her daughter that she misses her," Aurora scoffed.

**"** **You children are never far from our thoughts," Jafar said, he and Cruella waiving at their children.**

"Probably wanted to know when Jay would be back to stock the shelves," Aladdin muttered.

**"** **I got it," Maleficent interrupted. "How long must mommy wait to see you?"**

"I haven't called her 'mommy' since I was three," Mal scoffed. "She could have used 'mother', it wouldn't have seemed that out of place."

"Probably wanted to appear like she was a good mother," Evie pointed out. "After all, my mom used 'mommy'."

"You still call your mother that though."

**"** **Um, there's a big coronation coming up. I think sometime probably after that," Mal said, trying her best to inform her mother of their plans with Fairy Godmother just out of sight of the video call.**

"How could you not tell that they were plotting something?" Queen Leah scolded Fairy Godmother.

"Because unlike you, Queen Leah, I believe in giving these children the benefit of the doubt," Fairy Godmother told her. "Besides, we did plan on allowing the children to go back to the Isle after the coronation if they chose to."

**"** **When?" Maleficent demanded.**

"You know, she probably would have sold that more if it was just an inquisitive tone and not a demanding one," Kovu pointed out.

**"** **Friday, 10 a.m," Mal said as quick as she could.**

**"** **Are you sure I can't see you before that?" Maleficent asked, putting on an act of innocence. "I don't know what I'll do if I don't get my hands on that magic wan…you, you little nugget that I love so much!" She almost let her true intentions slip but was stopped by the Evil Queen, who had hit her on the head.**

"Nice save," Tanner muttered.

**Mal put on a fake smile. "Yes, I completely understand mother."**

**Something drew Cruella's attention and got closer to the camera, causing her face to look larger on the T.V. "Carlos, is that a dog?"**

"That's not remotely terrifying at all," Rodger snarked.

"Rodger," Anita playfully chided him.

**Dude growled**

"Good dog," several people in the audience muttered.

**Cruella squeaked the stuffed dog on her shoulder and laughed. "Oh, yes, yes, baby, I do understand. It would make the perfect size for earmuffs."**

"No!" Jane gasped and covered her mouth. Carlos didn't have the heart to remind her that was typical for his mother.

**"** **He's the perfect size for a pet," Carlos shot back, getting closer to the screen.**

"Go Carlos!" Grace and Margot exclaimed.

**"** **Oh!"**

**"** **This dog loves me, and I love him—and FYI, your dog is stuffed," Carlos told her, finally standing up to his mother.**

"Tell her!" Lucy cheered.

**"** **Oh!"**

**"** **So give it a rest!"**

"Awesome!" Most of the guys on the tourney team, along with Mal, Jay, Evie and Dizzy, cheered for Carlos standing up to Cruella.

**Jafar laughed at Cruella, who slinked back to the group. "Oh-ho! Burn!"**

**"** **Oh, why don't you go sell a toaster, you two-bit salesman!" Cruella yelled, hurling the insult at the former vizier.**

"Oh no, what an insult," Jane Darling rolled her eyes. "At least he's making a living, granted not an honest living as he's stealing from the other members of the Isle and making them buy back their own property but compared to what we've seen her do, it's something."

"Don't forget," Jasmine told the younger girl. "Jafar was my father's vizier. To go from that to selling a toaster would be the highest insult."

"Hey, wasn't your dad a genie when he got defeated?" Mal asked, turning to Jay.

"Yeah."

"So are you…?"

"No clue."

**"** **People who talk to stuffed animals shouldn't throw stones," Jafar taunted.**

**"** **Oh! Well, people who sell toasters shouldn't use mixed metaphors. Enough!"**

"We were scared of these guys?" Aladdin whispered to Jasmine.

"Hush," Jasmine whispered back.

**Jay quickly reached for the keyboard and turned off the monitor.**

**Fairy Godmother turned the four and apologized. "I'm so sorry."**

"For what you saw or for who we spent our lives with?" Mal asked.

"Probably both," Jane answered for her mother.

**"** **Thanks for the special treat," Jay told her.**

"Our definition of treat needs to be changed, I think," Kitty muttered. "How in the world would dealing with those four ever be a treat?"

**"** **Of course," Fairy Godmother nodded.**

**The kids collected their things and began to walk out of the room. "M? What do you think our parents are going to do to us if we don't pull this off?" Evie asked.**

"No need to provide any examples," Elsa told Mal, who had opened her mouth. "I think we can all picture what those four are capable of."

**"** **I think they will be quietly disappointed in us but ultimately…proud of us for doing our best," Mal said with a cautious tone, as if trying to get herself to believe it.**

Everyone turned to look at Mal in surprise. "Really?" Dizzy asked. "Have you met your mother?"

"I was trying to be optimistic," Mal defended her answer.

**"** **Really?" Carlos asked, looking at Mal as if trying to ask if the purple haired girl knew their parents.**

**"** **No, I think we are definitely goners," Mal told them and walked out of the classroom.**

"That makes so much more sense!" Dizzy sighed in relief. "I thought you'd gone mad for a second there."

**"** **Yeah," Evie agreed and went after Mal, followed by the boys.**

**The scene changes to Jay and Carlos' room where the four kids are gathered around a table in the middle of the room.**

**"** **Okay, we all know what this looks like. So it'll be up on the dais under the Beast's spell jar, and we'll be coming in from here. I will be in the very front. You all will be up in the balcony, okay? Carlos?" Mal told them, pointing to key areas of the blueprints laid out in front of them.**

"You know, this might just be a crazy idea, but why not have the part with the wand be a private ceremony and then the public coronation be with a fake wand?" Mal threw out there. "You know, in case vengeful villains send their kids to your land with the invitation of the future king with the mission to steal said wand?"

"Or just in general," Jay added.

**"** **Okay, so I'll find our limo so we can break the barrier and, uh, get back to the island with the wand."**

"Wouldn't any limo work?" Elle asked from her spot in the front row. "I mean, why wouldn't they all have barrier breaking buttons?"

"That's a good point," Eric told his elder daughter. "But let's focus."

**"** **Perfect. Evie?"**

**"** **Yeah?"**

**"** **You will use this to take out the driver," Mal handed the other girl a small spray bottle that almost looked like perfume. "Two sprays and he'll be out like a light."**

"Unharmed of course," Mal amended. "He was the driver from the day we left the Isle. I liked the guy, I wouldn't want to see him harmed."

"He called you jackals," Belle reminded her.

"Not like we haven't been called worse."

**"** **Okay," Evie took the bottle and began to walk away while Mal proceeded to flip through her mother's spell book. "M? You want to break Ben's love spell?"**

"What?" Audrey gasped. There was still a chance that Ben would come back to her and she would have to owe it to Mal of all people.

"Too bad it's unnecessary," Rachel muttered with a smirk.

**"** **Yeah," Mal told her and Evie sat down next to her. "You know, for after. I don't…I've just been thinking, you know, when the villains finally do invade Auradon, and begin to loot and kick everyone out of their castles and imprison their leaders and destroy all that is good and beautiful, Ben still being in love with me just seems a little extra…cruel."**

A few of the princesses had tears streaming down their face as Mal continued to describe what all the villains had planned.

"And you're trying to help them!" Queen Leah exclaimed.

"Did you not hear her earlier mother?!" Aurora countered, reaching her wit's end when it came to her mother. "The kids have no choice. It wasn't like they asked to be a part of this scheme or even came up with it themselves."

"They could have told someone!"

"Who would have believed them?" Aurora cried. "The only one who thought these four did not deserve to be locked up for their parents' crimes was a sixteen year old! Why did any of us think this would be a good idea? Did we not think that by locking children up for the crime of being born that we would just be asking for vengeful children of some of the most powerful beings we've ever encountered?"

"Briar," Phillip said in a low voice, trying to get her to settle but Aurora would not have it.

"Your problem, mother, is that you're too blind to your own prejudice," she said, standing up. "If you'd excuse me, I'd rather sit with Mal and her friends if they'd have me than spend another minute with you right now. I'd think long and hard, mother, about the way you're acting."

"Oh, and what will you do?" Queen Leah asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter's behavior.

"It might be a while before I allow Audrey or Philip to be alone with you," Aurora told her and several people gasped. Even Leah seemed shocked at such a blow.

"That's it, she's welcomed over here any time!" Jay announced.

"Mal?" Carlos asked, looking over at his friend. Mal looked over at Aurora and gave a brief nod.

Aurora smiled and walked over, sitting behind Jane and Evie.

"Son?" Phillip Sr. asked. He knew that his son would want to sit with his friends.

"And leave you with Audrey and Grandma?" Phillip Jr. scoffed. "Get real Dad."

**"** **M?" Evie asked but Mal got up and headed to the kitchen. The scene changed to Jay getting out of bed and staring at his MVP trophy, Carlos staring at Dude and Evie pulling out her test marked with a B+ before fading to Mal working on the anti-Love Potion.**

"You all were really conflicted, huh?" Aurora asked.

"We didn't want to complete the plan," Evie told her.

"But our parents don't exactly welcome failure," Mal finished. "Especially if it meant a way off the Isle."

**Mal:**

**A million thoughts in my head**

**Should I let my heart keep listening?**

**I know it's time to say good-bye**

**So hard to let go**

**As she stirred, Mal couldn't help the single tear that slipped down her cheek and into the bowl as she closed her mother's spell book.**

Ben couldn't help but stare at the screen in shock. He remembered what Mal had said when she was making the love potion. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness that he had been the reason his girlfriend had cried for the first time.

The Blue Fairy waved her wand, not asking if anyone wanted to proceed. It was safe to assume that everyone wanted to move on from that scene.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

**The scene opened up on Family Day, where upbeat pop music was in the air as Ben and the others presented their parents with an acapella version of Be Our Guest.**

**Ben:**

**Ma chere mademoiselle,**

"Nice pronunciation," Mal chuckled, resting her head on Ben's shoulder. She had missed the performance as the four of them thought it would be a good idea not to incite panic right off the bat.

"Thanks," Ben told her. "Lumiere helped me with it."

**It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight**

"Um, it's still daylight," Dizzy pointed out.

"Late lunch didn't have the same ring to it," Kitty shrugged. "Ben chose the lyrics."

"Now I guess we're lucky that it wasn't ridiculous," Terrance muttered to his wife.

"Dear, be nice," Tinkerbelle muttered back, nudging her husband on the shoulder.

**And now we invite you to relax**

"Neal, if you went any lower, your head would be in the ground," Emma teased her brother.

"Sorry for wanting to be respectful," Neal muttered.

**Let us pull up a chair**

"There are a lot of things Belle can do," Rapunzel muttered to Eugene. "Dance is not one of them."

"To be fair, there wasn't much anyone could do in terms of dancing to that beat," Eugene muttered back. "By the way, has anyone commented on how plastic Beast's crown looks? What, does he wear a fake one when he's out and then has the real one in a safe somewhere?"

**As the dining room proudly presents your dinner!**

"Late lunch."

"We get it Kitty!" Lucy shouted, having heard her twin sister's correction.

Kitty couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, I'm so sorry baby sister. Was I being annoying?"

"One minute! You're older by one minute!"

**Group: Be our guest, be our guest**

**Put our service to the test**

**Tie your napkin round your neck, chrie**

**And we'll provide the rest**

"Nice dance moves," Evie chuckled as Doug flushed.

"I always got the timing wrong in rehearsal," Doug muttered.

**Ben: That's right**

**Group: That's right—Soup du jour, hot hors d'oeuuvres**

**Why we only live to serve—Whoo!**

"Oh why did that have to be shown?" Paige groaned and hid her eyes as the screen version of herself caught Ben's napkin. Her best friend Maggie patted her on the shoulder in commiseration as her screen self celebrated

**Try the gray stuff, it's delicious**

**Ben: All right! Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!**

**Guys:**

**Yeah!**

"Okay then," Mal blinked in surprise at the change in beat. "Some warning would be nice. Also, I'm pretty sure none of you are dishes."

**They can sing, sing, sing**

**They can dance, dance, dance**

**After all, miss, this is France**

"Pretty sure it's Auradon," Carlos pointed out.

"Can the dishes sing and dance?" Dizzy asked, a huge smile breaking out on her face.

"Possibly," Mal told her.

Meanwhile, Ben was having to fight the urge to hide his eyes at his parents' dancing. No one would say anything, as they were the King and Queen, but the second hand embarrassment was too much.

**And a dinner here is never, never second best.**

**Come on, go on, unfold your menu**

"Who cleaned those up?" Cinderella asked.

"We all did, Mom," Kitty told her. "Well, most of us," she corrected, shooting a sour look at her older brother.

**Go on, take a glance and then you'll**

"Nice dancing Jack," Maggie chuckled.

"You're just jealous," Jack scoffed.

**Be our guest, be our guest**

**Be our guest**

**Yeah, yeah, come on,**

**Yeah, be our guest,**

**guest, yeah**

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear!" Fairy Godmother gasped as she saw that she had knocked Jane into the wall. "I was having so much fun that I guess I didn't notice."

"It's fine mom," Jane said with a genuine smile. "It didn't even hurt."

**Everyone: Yeah**

**We tell jokes, I do tricks with my fellow candlesticks**

"You know, minus Carlos holding the dog, I have to say they look fairly intimidating in that shot," Jamie muttered to her dad.

**And it's all in perfect taste**

**That you can bet**

**Come on and lift your glass**

**You've won your own free pass**

**To be our guest**

"Oh look Mother, no one's running around in fear from Mal, Evie, Jay, or Carlos," Aurora pointed out, shooting her mother a look. Leah though just scoffed in disgust.

**Ben:**

**If you're stressed**

**It's fine dining we suggest**

"But I'm broke," Evie joked, causing the other three to laugh.

**Everyone:**

**Be our guest, be our guest, be our guest**

**Yeah, yeah, uh, come on;**

**Be our guest, be our guest,**

**Come on, come on,**

**Be our guest!**

"Seriously Mal?" Evie groaned. "Could you leave the strawberry alone for like two seconds?"

"E, when you find a fruit you like, you'll understand," Mal told her best friend.

**The dance number ended, leaving Ben free to go around and greet a few of the guests. Carlos handed Dude off to Evie as he and Jay discovered the chocolate fountain.**

"You know, with the exception of Evie, all the kids from the Isle have something from here that they're obsessed with," Kion pointed out. "Mal with strawberries, Jay and Carlos with chocolate."

"Oh, I think there's something Evie's obsessed with," Kiara said with a chuckle. "It's just not food."

**Ben, finishing up his host duties, greeted his mom and dad.**

**"** **Oh, that was so lovely!" Belle told her son. Carlos and Jay were in the background, licking the flowing chocolate from the fountain.**

"I'm disgusted and yet not at all surprised," Rose sighed. "Boys."

"Hey!" Evan cried, in his own defense. Rose lifted an eyebrow.

"Have you seen your room?"

"It's no worse than yours!"

"So what I'm hearing is that both of you need to clean your rooms?" Rapunzel asked, raising an eyebrow. Both Evan and Rose flushed.

"Yes mom."

**Belle, Beast and Ben positioned themselves by a gazebo for a family portrait.**

**"** **Just here? Ready?" The photographer asked.**

**"** **Oh! By the way, I have a new girlfriend," Ben said, causing the photographer to freeze as he was about to take the photo.**

"Ben!" Mal exclaimed. "That's the worst time to tell them!"

"What?" Ben asked. "I was excited. Sides, I don't have secrets from my parents."

"Okay but dude. Timing," Jay added.

**"** **Oh!" Both his parents reacted in surprise.**

**"** **Yeah," Ben nodded.**

**"** **Well I never wanted to say anything, but I always thought that Audrey was a little self-absorbed," Belle said as she fixed her hair for the photo. "A fake smile, kind of a kiss-up."**

Audrey couldn't help but frown at that. Was that how the queen really thought or was she just trashing Ben's ex to make him feel like he made the right decision in getting together with Mal?

**"** **Do we know your new girlfriend?" King Beast asked.**

"You could say that," Carlos muttered.

**"** **On the count of three. One, two…"**

**"** **Well, sort of," Ben said. "Mal!"**

**Ben waved toward Mal, who waved back as Ben posed for a photo with his parents. Ben gestured for Mal to join him.**

**"** **I got to go, okay?" Mal told Evie before walking toward Ben.**

"Oh I'm sorry Mal," Ben said. "I should have gone over there."

"Ben, it's fine," Mal chuckled. "You were with your parents after all."

Ben still felt guilty. He knew why Mal couldn't have her mother there but felt that it might have possibly seemed like he was rubbing it in his girlfriend's face that he had his parents and she didn't.

**"** **Three!" The photographer shouted and took the photo, while Belle and Beast looked shocked. The photographer looked back at his camera to make sure that was the photo the King and Queen wanted to take.**

No one looked at each other in fear that they would burst out laughing. The look of shock on Belle and Adam/Beast's face was just too much to bear.

**"** **Mal? Mal!" Ben called, walking toward her.**

**"** **Uh…" Belle sighed.**

**"** **I want to introduce you to my parents," Ben told Mal, who had given him a hug in greeting. Turning back to his parents, Ben said "this is Mal. From the Island."**

"In case you mistook me for Mal from Agrabah," Mal quipped.

**"** **Mm…" Mal nodded.**

**"** **My girlfriend."**

"A man of few words," Jack chuckled.

"He's nervous," Maggie chided her brother.

**"** **Hi," Belle greeted Mal.**

**"** **Hi," Mal responded.**

**"** **I was thinking maybe she can join us for lunch," Ben offered.**

"Wow, they look less than thrilled with the idea," Phillip Sr. muttered and looked over at his wife. Not for the first time he wondered why he didn't follow her in moving to sit with the kids from the Isle. Maybe it was because unlike Aurora, who got to know Maleficent when she was a young girl, Maleficent held him hostage and tried to kill him as a dragon.

But Mal wasn't to blame for that. It was then that Phillip made a pact. If his mother in law continued her gods forsaken rambling about how the Isle kids should be sent back, he was going to move over and sit next to his wife.

**"** **Of…course," Adam/Beast said, trying to hide his shock of his son dating someone from the Isle. "Any friend of Ben's…."**

"Umm he said 'girlfriend,' Kimberley said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Say it with me. Girl Friend."

"Kimberley," her father Koda warned.

"Sorry dad."

**"** **Um, I actually came with my friends," Mal said, slightly uncomfortable.**

**"** **Well you should invite them," Belle told her. "Because the more the merrier!"**

Mal couldn't help but give a small smile in Belle's direction. Despite her obvious discomfort, Belle tried her hardest to make sure that Mal was comfortable, even going as far as to invite kids she didn't even know.

**The camera cuts to Jay and Carlos at the fountain, faces covered in chocolate, and Evie holding Dude.**

"Seriously guys?" Mal sighed.

"I think they're worse than you, Anna," Elsa chuckled.

**"** **Yeah, I'll go grab them," Mal agreed.**

**"** **Uh, how about a game of croquet before lunch?" Adam/Beast suggested.**

**"** **Huh? Of course!" Mal agreed.**

"What's croquet?" Dizzy asked.

"A game where you hit balls with a mallet," Mal said. "That's about as simple as I can make it."

"Why would anyone play?" Dizzy asked, scrunching her nose up in confusion.

"Boredom."

**"** **Game on!" Ben said, preparing for a fist bump with his dad.**

**"** **Game on!" Adam/Beast said, returning the bump. Ben puts his arm around Mal as they walk off to get the rest of the Isle kids.**

**"** **Have you played before?" Ben asked.**

**"** **No!" Mal told him. The two of them never noticed Belle falling back in shock and Adam/Beast catching her and standing her back on her feet.**

Mal couldn't help the smirk that came to her lips but tried to banish it as quickly as it came. However, Ben looked over at his mom with shock evident on his face.

"Why was it such a shock?" Ben asked. "You almost fainted mom."

"Mal was the exact opposite of Audrey that it took me by surprise," Belle said, looking down, shamed by her action. "I hadn't known then what I know now. I know it's no excuse but I do apologize, Mal."

Mal shook her head. "One more time for the people in the back. We are the children of villains. We know we're not the kids you take home to mom and dad. If you had reacted any other way, your majesty, I'd be insulted. You were honest enough not to hide how you felt yet kind enough not to make Ben's girlfriend feel uncomfortable."

**"** **No? You'll be fine," Ben told her.**

"Playing? Yes," Mal nodded. "Dealing with what comes next? Not so much."

**The scene cuts to the group playing croquet—well Mal, Ben, Jay and Adam/Beast were playing. Belle was off to the side talking with Evie and Carlos was chasing Dude. Ben and Jay celebrated Jay's score while Mal stood off a ways watching Ben play, leaning on her mallet.**

**"** **Hello there," an older woman said, walking up to Mal.**

"Mother?" Aurora asked, her back ramrod straight in preparation for whatever attack her mother was going to launch toward Mal.

**"** **Hi," Mal said in response.**

**"** **Now, have we met?" The woman asked.**

"Gods help us if that was the case," Meg muttered. "If Leah and Mal liked each other, I don't think we could survive their wit."

**Mal shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'm new. I'm sort of like a…transfer student."**

"Smart," Phillip Jr. muttered. "No need for Grandmother to start shrieking all over the place."

**"** **Oh, yes."**

**"** **Grammy," Audrey said, smiling at the older woman.**

**"** **Oh, Audrey!" The woman exclaimed. "Give Grammy a kiss, dear."**

**Mal couldn't help but looked shocked. "Grammy?" She exclaimed.**

"So you didn't know who she was?" Aurora asked, looking at Mal in surprise.

"I knew who she was," Mal told her. "But the way she acted with me at first didn't match the stories my mother used to tell of Queen Leah and King Stephen. It was almost as if she was a different person."

**"** **Sleeping Beauty's mother," Audrey told her, breaking away from her grandmother's embrace. "Grammy, I don't think you want to be talking to this girl. Unless you feel like taking another hundred-year nap."**

"Audrey!" Aurora exclaimed. "Mal wasn't doing anything to warrant that sort of behavior! She and your grandmother were having a very nice chat before you arrived, young lady."

"Mother! I was just—"

"No, Audrey," Phillip Sr spoke up. "Whatever you thought you were doing, it only served to make Mal feel uncomfortable and make your grandmother upset. I thought your mother and I had raised a kind, caring young woman but watching this has shown I clearly don't know my own daughter."

Audrey looked at her father in shock. They were going off of a few scenes with those Isle brats?! There were no scenes from cheer practice, where she had to help deal with disputes between upset girls wanting different spots on the pyramid. There were no scenes where she hung out with Jane (yes before her transformation) and helped Jane with her Chemistry homework. Why should a few scenes allow her parents to judge who she was as a person?

**"** **What?" 'Grammy' asked, while Mal gave Audrey a look of surprise. After a minute, 'Grammy' gasped in surprise. "You! How are you here? And how have you stayed so young?"**

"By not being my mother," Mal quipped.

**"** **Queen Leah," Ben said, quickly coming to his girlfriend's defense. "It's okay. Maleficent is still on the island. This is her daughter, Mal. Don't you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?"**

"Honestly they should have been given a chance at birth," Penny chimed in. "After all, they were only born. It was their parents who committed the crimes against us and our families."

"Thanks for stepping in Ben," Mal whispered, giving her boyfriend a small smile.

**"** **A chance to what, Ben? Destroy us? Come on, you remember don't you?" Fairy Godmother tried to get Queen Leah to stop but the royal continued to talk. "The poison apples? And the spells? Spells!"**

"She had to bring up the poison apples," Evie muttered, not looking in Snow White's direction.

"You know, I think your mom cast the most spells out of all of ours," Mal told her, trying to get her to ignore Leah's ranting for the second time.

"Yeah but they were just on herself," Evie pointed out. "Your mom was the curse queen."

**Queen Leah turned back to Mal. "My daughter was raised by fairies because of your mother's curse. So her first words, her first steps, I missed it all!"**

"Well that's your own fault then!" Phillip Sr chimed in. "I read what Maleficent's curse was. Before the sun set on Aurora's sixteenth birthday—it did not say that from birth to sixteen Aurora would prick her finger, it was on her sixteenth birthday. You still could have raised your daughter but decided to give her to three women who had no business taking care of a child."

"Phillip!" Leah exclaimed.

"If you'll excuse me, Leah, I'm going to go sit by my wife," Phillip Sr told her. Looking over at his son, he asked "Phillip?"

"No need to ask twice, dad," Phillip Jr. scrambled onto his feet and both men walked over to where the ever growing group around the Isle kids was located. Phillip gave Aurora a peck on the cheek.

"Took you long enough," Aurora teased.

**Turning back to Ben, she finished "You mustn't trust her."**

"Why?" Dizzy asked. "Just because her mother's Maleficent? That's like saying I should be nasty and cruel just because my mom's Drizella!"

"We're not our parents!" Evie exclaimed, breaking her poised persona for the first time in her life; tears streaming silently from the corners of her eyes. "Despite their best attempts, we know we'll never amount to their villainy, or any villainy if we're given the chance. I can't speak for my friends, but I'm proud to say that!"

It was at this point that the screen began to glow a bright gold; almost as if a giant ball of pixie dust had been thrown onto the screen. But instead of floating, the border of the screen continued to shine.

"I do apologize," the Blue Fairy told the group. "But the future is uncertain at times. What you are about to see is what might have happened had I not come to Mal's defense."

**"** **I'm so so—"**

"Don't apologize to her," Aurora told Mal. "The only one who needs to do that is your mother and my father. The only thing you did, Mal, was be born and my mother should know better than to treat a child in such a way."

Turning to her mother "Imagine if someone had done that to Audrey in your presence mother. How would you react?"

"Who would ever do such a thing?" Leah gasped. "Audrey's perfect, and you've done nothing to earn the ire of other parents Aurora."

"Gods, you give her a brain which she does not use," Phillip Sr. muttered. "You give her a mouth and she never shuts up."

**Mal's apology was interrupted by Chad, who shouted down Mal without even asking what was going on.**

"Ugh why am I not surprised?" Kitty groaned.

"Of course you'd find a way to cram yourself in there," Lucy rolled her eyes.

**"** **Go away! Stay away from her!" Chad exclaimed as he stood in front of Leah and Audrey.**

" _She_ walked up to _Mal_!" Grace exclaimed.

**"** **_Don't_ do this, Chad," Ben said, standing closer to his former friend. **

Dizzy couldn't help the small giggle that slipped out. Despite the seriousness of the scene, Ben's strong diction just seemed to tickle her funny bone.

**"** **What? They were raised by their parents, Ben. What do you think villains teach their kids? Huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way, okay. Uh-uh. You stole another girl's boyfriend."**

"I'm sorry but who were we supposed to be raised by?" Mal asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Wolves? Seagulls? Rats? Yes we were raised by our parents but so were you all. Chad, I'm pretty sure Cinderella didn't teach you to get girls to do your homework for you and treat others like they were beneath you."

"Of course they didn't teach us kindness or fair play," Evie added. "Like Mal keeps pointing out, our parents are villains. With the exception of some of the lesser villains on the Isle, most of us only know kindness from our friends."

**"** **Hey, hey!" Ben exclaimed, trying to get Chad to stop but it proved to be impossible as the son of Cinderella turned to Jay and Evie.**

"At least he's trying," Kitty pointed out. "Where the heck are the teachers? Or Fairy Godmother? Heck, where's the king and queen to stop Chad from being his dumb ass self?"

"You're my sister! Shouldn't you be on my side?" Chad asked, staring at his little sister in shock.

"Yeah right," Kitty snorted. "I've lost friends because of you. Guys don't want to date me because I'm your sister. The few friends I have started disappearing once you started being a dick to the Isle kids because they thought I'd be the same. Why? Audrey at least has some reason—even if it's a petty one. Neither those four or their parents have done anything to you or our family. What, is it because Jay has bigger muscles than you or Evie has better hair?"

"Don't look at me, bro," Lucy told him. "Twins stick together. Only reason why I'm not over there right now is because it looks a little crowded."

**"** **Oh! You enjoy hurting people. And you, you're nothing but a gold digger and a cheater."**

"When has Jay ever hurt anyone outside of Tourney?" Michael Thatch asked, raising an eyebrow. "If you're talking about the time he got detention for fighting, he was sticking up for my sister, Chad. You know, the one you dated for two weeks before you decided to chase Audrey's skirts."

"Also, one question," Valerie pointed out. "Evie cheated on one question that we saw but judging by the lack of reaction from the Isle kids, it's safe to assume that these scenes are accurate. How can you call her a cheater when you get girls to do your homework for you?"

"By the way, gold digger?" Moira asked. "If Evie's a gold digger just for wanting her comfort secured, then what the hell is Audrey for dating Ben just to be Queen?"

**"** **Mirror, mirror, in my hand. Who's the biggest jerk in the land?" Evie asked, holding her magic mirror up to show Chad's reflection in the mirror.**

"Nice," Maggie chuckled.

**"** **What? Come on!" Chad exclaimed, whacking Evie's hand and causing her to fall off balance. Jay stepped in to defend Evie, clutching the prince's jacket by the lapels.**

"Chad Charming!" Kit barked, causing Chad to stare at his father in shock. He had never raised his voice at his children before.

"It didn't hurt her!" Chad tried to defend himself. "Besides I haven't done it yet!"

"You think that's the important part?" Kit exclaimed, looking at his son in shock. "Your mother and I taught you to never place your hands on a woman! Just because Evie said something you disliked gives you no right to whack her hand or knock her off balance. I would hope if the position was reversed and someone did that to Jane or another one of your female friends that you would react the same as Jay."

Chad continued to stare at his father, unable to believe his ears. His father had basically said that he needed to act more like a child from the Isle.

"You're lucky, young man, that this hasn't happened yet or we'd be adding another five weeks to your grounding," Kit told him. "That being said, I hope Fairy Godmother talks to all of your ex-girlfriends as well as the other girls in school. I won't have my son being someone who feels it's appropriate to lay his hand on a woman."

**"** **Back off, Chad. All right? Back off!" Jay shouted but Chad continued to move forward. Evie resorted to spraying Chad with the potion she was going to use to knock out the driver, causing Chad to pass out.**

"Normally I would not condone the use of violence or magic," Fairy Godmother said. "However, this does seem to be in self defense as well as the defense of another student. In addition to the fact it hasn't happened yet, no one shall be punished."

Evie looked over at Jay with a small smile. "Thanks Jay."

"You and Mal are the closest things I have to sisters," Jay told her. "No one messes with you guys when I'm around."

**"** **Chad? Chad! Chad!" Audrey shouted.**

**"** **Evie did something to Chad!" Lonnie exclaimed.**

"Lonnie!" Mulan exclaimed. "You're friends with both Chad and Evie. Surely you'd know that Evie would never attack another student unless it was in self defense."

**"** **Wake up!" Doug said, trying to wake up Chad.**

"That'll work," Carlos rolled his eyes and then leaned over to Evie. "Is he not a fast learner?"

"He's emotionally involved," Evie told him. "And hush."

**"** **Check to see if he's okay," Lonnie told him.**

"Leave him," Kitty told the older girl. "It's more time he's not killing our brain cells by talking."

**Evie grabbed Mal and began pulling her away from the events. Mal left, shocked by everything that had happened.**

**"** **Come on, Mal," Evie said, trying to get her friend to leave.**

**"** **Guys!" Ben shouted but they ignored him.**

**"** **Jay!" Evie called.**

Everyone stared at the scene in silence. It seemed to call back to what Aurora had said earlier, about how Ben had been the only one to think the children from the Isle worthy of getting a second chance. Chad had been the one to instigate the problem and yet people were checking on him and not making sure Evie was okay.

**"** **Chad, wake up!" Audrey shrieked.**

**"** **Come on, Chad," Doug urged.**

**Chad slowly began to wake up.**

"Darn it," Kitty grumbled.

**"** **I feared something like this would happen," King Adam/Beast said with a sigh. Ben turned to his dad in shock.**

**"** **This isn't their fault!" Ben told him, his temper starting to erupt.**

"Hey, it's okay," Mal said turning to her boyfriend and trying to give him a reassuring smile. "Even if your parents think we started it, you don't need to get angry on our behalf."

"Someone should, Mal," Ben told her. "All you guys did was be born and yet you're tarnished with the label of 'villain'. It's not fair."

**"** **No son," Adam/Beast said, wiping his glasses. "It's yours."**

Ben once again couldn't help but stare at his father in shock. "Dad?"

**Ben looked at his father in shock. "Mom?" He asked but his mother looked at him sadly before walking off with his father. Audrey scoffed at Ben, as if to twist the knife deeper that everything was his fault, and led Chad away.**

Ben honestly didn't know what to do. Did his parents blame him for the whole thing? Was he supposed to lead Chad off? Lead Mal away when Leah started her tirade? Stop Leah from approaching Mal in the first place? Keep Audrey away from her own grandmother?

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Mal place a hand on his as it had curled into a fist in frustration.

"Just breathe Ben," she whispered, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "This hasn't happened yet. You can always talk to your parents afterwards. There's no use getting upset over something started by Chad."

Ben looked over at Mal, and couldn't help but feel some of the frustration and anxiety leave. "How'd you know what to say?"

Mal gave a low chuckle. "Panic has a couple sons by Vanessa, Ursula's alter ego."

"I thought Ursula and Vanessa were the same people?" Ben asked and Mal shot him a look for interrupting her.

"When the barrier was put up, it was as if they were split into two different people. No one really understands how. Anyway, Virgil, his elder son, he's a couple years older than Dizzy. He gets really bad anxiety attacks and never talks to anyone about them since, you know, villains and feelings. He didn't want to be seen as weak. Dizzy's always good at talking to him when he gets one of those attacks and taught us in case we ran into him without her."

"Really?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," Mal nodded and looked over to Dizzy, who was laughing at something Kitty had said. "Virgil's one of those kids who really doesn't belong on the Island. He tries to hide it but he's a sweetheart at times."

Ben straightened his back and looked back at Mal. "Then he should come to. I'll reach out to…"

"Panic," Mal told him, looking back at Ben.

"Panic and invite Virgil to Auradon Prep," Ben told her. "I'm not going to let this scene that hasn't happened yet prevent all the kids who need help from getting it."

Mal couldn't help but smile at Ben. "There's the optimist I knew was in there."

"How are you not mad? At my parents I mean?" Ben asked.

"I can't say I'm not," Mal told him. "But I'm reminding myself that this hasn't happened yet and that version of your parents doesn't know Chad like this version of your parents does."

**"** **What happened?" Chad asked. "I had this dream…"**

**Later that day, after all the parents had left, Ben walked up to the four kids at a picnic table by themselves.**

**"** **Hey guys. How is everyone? Yeah? Hey listen. Forget about it. All right? It was nothing. Forget about it. Let it go.**

"That's my line," Elsa said, trying to cut the tension but it didn't work.

**Tomorrow, after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay," Ben told them but ended up talking to himself as none of the four responded. Leaning down, Ben told Mal, "I have to go."**

**"** **I'll see you guys later," Ben told them after straightening up and walked off. As Ben left, Doug approached.**

**"** **Listen Evie, I want to talk about earlier today," Doug said. "I just—"**

**"** **Doug!" Chad shouted, cutting the other boy off.**

"Okay Chad, what could you possibly have to threaten me with?" Doug asked. "You think I care about being popular? I'm a nerd and proud of it. If I want to talk to Evie, I'll talk to Evie."

Dopey gave his son a proud smile at that announcement.

"Good for him," Happy whispered to his brothers.

**"** **It's my fault, Doug. I'm sorry," Evie told him.**

"You mispronounced Chad," Lucy told her.

**"** **No, it's mine," Doug told her.**

"Seriously, Chad is not that hard of a word to say," Kitty sighed.

"Alright girls," Kit shook his head. "Enough."

**"** **Doug!" Chad shouted once more.**

**"** **What?" Doug asked, looking over at Chad with an irritated expression.**

**"** **Doug," Evie said, bringing his attention back to her.**

**Doug looked off to the side. "Sorry, I can't," he said and walked over to where all the Auradon students were sitting. He sat down at the table across from Chad, who gave him a dirty look while Audrey stood, smiling triumphantly.**

"Okay, seriously?" Kitty groaned. "I know this hasn't happened yet but Doug, come on! You know Evie, you know she would never attack someone unless it was self defense. Why—"

"Probably because doing what your brother says would make my life easier in the long run," Doug told her. "I know it's no excuse and I'm not proud of it but that's the only reason I could think of."

**"** **Okay," Doug said.**

**Jane and Audrey started to walk by the table that Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos were sitting at. The two girls laughed, as if one of them had said something funny.**

**"** **How long does she thing that's going to last?" Audrey asked as they walked by Mal. "Mal's just the bad girl infatuation."**

"Mal can hear you," Aurora commented, shooting her daughter a look.

**"** **Yeah," Jane agreed. Leaning in close to Mal, she continued "I mean he's never going to make a villain a queen."**

"Janey!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed. "Now I know I didn't approve of the magic on your hair but Mal has been nothing but nice to you, even changed your hair without being asked. Yes I know it was a ploy to get the wand but still. I thought I taught you better."

"I'm sorry Mom," Jane looked down.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to, young lady," Fairy Godmother told her. Jane looked over at Mal.

"Mal, I'm so sorry. I'd understand if you didn't want to be friends."

"You know, people seem to really like mistaking me for my mother today," Mal shook her head. "I don't hold grudges for something that hasn't happened yet. The Mal on there might," she said, pointing at the screen. "But it's happened to her. It hasn't happened to me and I hope it won't."

"It won't Mal," Jane told her, nodded frantically. "I promise."

"Well then, stop apologizing," Mal told her. "And stop nodding, you look like a bobble head."

**The two of them walked off and Mal began flipping through her spell book. Getting to the right page, not even looking at the spell, Mal said, "Beware, forswear, undo Jane's hair." Without even turning around, Mal performed the same motions that gave Jane the hair in the first place.**

"I deserved that," Jane said softly. She didn't even have the heart to check if her hair had changed back.

"Your hair's fine, by the way," Mal told her, chuckling a little at Jane's reaction. "I don't think the magic on the screen could affect us."

**With a loud scream, the group of girls backed away as it's revealed that Jane had her old hair back. Audrey led the group as she began laughing at Jane's predicament and Lonnie started pawing at her hair, as if it too had been changed.**

"Audrey," Aurora warned. "Be thankful that the glow is still on the screen meaning this hasn't yet happened."

"Lonnie," Mulan shook her head in part amusement and part disappointment.

**"** **Ew," Chad uttered as Evie stood up and followed Mal as she faced Audrey and the others.**

"Seriously?" Lucy exclaimed. "Jane's only your oldest friend. Maybe you should check on her?!"

"I think we say 'seriously' too much when it comes to Chad," Kitty pointed out.

**"** **There's a lot more where that came from," Mal threatened.**

**"** **Excuse me. Who do you think you are?" Audrey scoffed.**

"MALEFICENT'S DAUGHTER!" Grace, Melody, Dizzy, Kitty, Lucy and Lonnie shouted.

"Mal's good but for real, if Maleficent's daughter came up to me and said 'there's a lot more where that came from' and I didn't know her, I'd piss myself," Evan said.

**"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mal shot back and began to stare Audrey down. Grabbing her spell book, Mal began to flip through it causing all the kids from Auradon to run away in fear and panic.**

**"** **I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," Mal said as she faced her friends armed with a fake smile as to not reveal her true emotions. "Let's grab that wand and blow this popsicle stand."**

"Hmm, until you started everything Audrey, they were conflicted about the wand plan," Phillip Jr. pointed out. "Thanks, you've doomed us all."

**The four of them walked off in the opposite direction of the Auradon kids and Rotten to the Core could be heard in the background.**

Before the Blue Fairy could resume the film, the door to the room opened up, causing many people to tense. They relaxed though upon seeing two brunettes in fancy clothing walk in accompanied by two children.

"Nancy!" Giselle exclaimed.

"Giselle!" Nancy smiled and went to hug her friend. "I'm sorry we're late. The Wishing Well took us all over the place."

"Why didn't you just drive?"

"Edward," Nancy said and Giselle nodded as if that made perfect sense. "We actually landed on the Isle of the Lost."

"How did you get off?" Giselle gasped, holding her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Well we landed in Hades' lair of all places," Nancy told her. "There was a young girl there, Celia, who said that there was a weak spot in the barrier and that small amounts of magic could be used in Hades' lair. She helped us get the portal back up, well with a fee of course."

"Did anyone follow you?" Giselle asked.

"I don't think so," Nancy shook her head but before she could say anything else, a small boy came running into the room. His bright blue hair made him stand out more than anything and he ran straight for Mal, of all people.

"Mally!" He shouted and gave her a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her waist as far as they would go.

"Hadie?!" Mal exclaimed with delight and shock peppering her voice.

Nancy looked back at Giselle. "Apparently I was wrong."


	18. Chapter 18

Mal couldn't believe it. Her half-brother, her little Beastie, was there in Auradon. He was also choking off her air supply with his hug.

"Hadie, what are you doing here?" Mal asked as best she could, looking down at her little brother.

"Mom came over to prepare for her visit," Hadie told her and released her from his hug. "The portal was open and I saw Celia show those two how to use it to get off the Isle."

Mal sighed and shook her head. Of course Hadie would be tempted by the portal, any child would have been. "Hadie, your dad's going to be seriously angry that you're missing."

"Dad won't care," Hadie shrugged. "Besides, I'm with you Mally! Nothing bad could happen!"

Mal couldn't help but chuckle and ruffle Hadie's hair, causing a squawk of annoyance from the younger boy. "Kid, I've been around a time or two. Gods really don't like it when their kid goes missing."

"Mally! Leave my hair alone!" Hadie cried out and Mal shook her head in amusement. Sure they had their rough spots when they were younger, especially when Persephone was over and Hadie got both his parents while Mal had to contend with just Maleficent. It wasn't until Mal turned thirteen that she was able to stop blaming Hadie for something that he wasn't responsible for and that he couldn't control. Ever since then, they'd been thick as thieves on the Isle.

Sure, she still hated Hades for abandoning her as a baby but that wasn't Hadie's fault.

Hadie's silence broke Mal from her thoughts and she saw that the younger boy was looking down at the ground.

"Hey, what's up?" Mal asked, concerned for her brother. He was hardly ever silent.

"You left," Hadie said and it was clear that he was trying hard not to cry. "Everyone leaves but you always said you wouldn't."

Mal sighed and knelt down to his level. "I know I left,ἀδελφεός, but my mother didn't exactly give me a choice. She let me know about my invitation to Auradon Prep the same day the limo came. Had I more time, I could have found a way to hide and stay on the Isle."

"Really?" Hadie asked, his eyes lighting up at Mal's use of greek. Persephone never hid away in Hades' lair and always tried to help the children of the Isle the best she could. The Isle was a completely urban area so there wasn't much the Goddess of Vegetation could do so instead she tried to make sure each child learned something new that they wouldn't have otherwise.

"Really," Mal chuckled and looked over her shoulder at the rest of the room. It was clear that they were trying to not freak out openly at another child escaping the Isle.

"Hey Hadie," Evie gave the smaller boy a great big smile, trying to ease the tension in the room, and drawing Mal's attention back to the younger boy.

"Hi Evie!" Hadie exclaimed, returning the smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Mal saw Hercules move to walk over to their area. Mal had an idea of why Hercules was coming their way but she also hoped that he hadn't caught her use of Greek. If anyone knew what that word meant, it was Hercules, his wife, or his kids. Well, and Hadie but that went without saying.

"Hey Evie, why don't you take Hadie and introduce him to Dizzy?" Mal suggested. "I don't know if they've ever met on the Isle."

"But—"

"You can come right back," Evie told him, knowing what the complaint would be. Hadie rolled his eyes but followed Evie. Once Hadie was sufficiently distracted, Mal stood up and blocked the path of the demi-god.

"Excuse me," Hercules said, giving Mal a polite smile.

"You're not going anywhere near him," Mal told him, not even caring if she was seen as too blunt. "Not now, not ever."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You and I both know who that boy's father is," Mal said, her eyes flashing green in her irritation. "I also know that the adults of Auradon have no qualms about airing their grievances onto the kids of their respective villains. I might be able to be chewed out for my mother's crimes but I'm sixteen. Hadie's ten."

"I would never!"

"Yeah, I'm sure they all said that about Queen Leah over there too," Mal scoffed, the green glow disappearing. Hercules sighed but had to admit that based on what they had seen, Mal had a point.

"I will respect your boundaries, Mal, but will you please let Hadie know that I would like to talk with him at some point? I would like to get to know my cousin/nephew."

"Wait, how can he be your cousin and your nephew?" Mal asked, slightly confused.

"You don't want to know," Hercules told her and walked back to his family.

 _No I kind of do,_ Mal thought with a frown. If Hadie was Hercules' cousin but also his nephew, did that make Hadie her brother and nephew? The Gods were confusing, and it was Zeus' fault too!

"Shall we resume?" The Blue Fairy asked and Hadie walked back over to Mal.

"Was that Wonder Breath?" Hadie asked, causing Mal to smirk in amusement.

"Sure was," Mal told him. "Now hush!"

Hadie chuckled and sat next to Mal, causing everyone on Mal's right side to scoot over one. It also allowed for people to switch spots if they chose. Paige took the opportunity to sit next to her twin while Lucy scurried to grab a spot behind Kitty and Dizzy.

"Ready?" The Blue Fairy asked once more.

"We're ready, Blue Fairy," Ben nodded. He was curious about the young boy who could get a reaction like that from Mal but thought that this might be the wrong time to address it with her.

**The screen opened up on a shot of the chapel where Ben's coronation would take place. It's later revealed to be a television screen where the parents of the Isle kids watching and eating pop corn.**

"Where'd they get that?" Dizzy asked, looking amazed.

"Some princess must have thrown out a bag during a purge of the pantry," Mal said, rolling her eyes.

**"** **At last, here we are, broadcasting live from the coronation where Prince Benjamin will soon be crowned king! I'm Snow White, bringing you up to the second coverage of who's the fairest of them all," Snow White said.**

"I get to cover the coronation?" Snow gasped. This was a big break for her career; despite being a princess herself, no one ever took her seriously thanks to that apple.

"Congrats, mom," Emma gave her mother a big smile.

"I'm sure you'll be great!" Neal told her.

**"** **I'm Snow White," the Evil Queen mocked. "Who are you kidding? She's definitely had work done."**

Snow couldn't help but frown as she heard her step mother's comments. Despite all the years away from her, it still hurt.

"You look beautiful," Ferdinand whispered and kissed his wife's hand, having noticed the frown.

**The Evil Queen threw popcorn at the TV as the other villains stared at her.**

**The scene cuts to the inside of the chapel where the royals of Auradon were milling about. Audrey could be seen showing off her dress as Chad looks at her in adoration, while Jane moves through the crowd just as timid as she was the day she first met Mal and the others. Fairy Godmother walked up to the bell jar.**

"Really mother?" Aurora sighed. "An almost carbon cut out of my dress from when I was sixteen?"

"What?" Leah asked. "It's the style Audrey looks best in."

"Because you refuse to let her wear anything else," Aurora told her. "If I buy Audrey a dress in any other style or color, it mysteriously goes missing the next day."

**"** **Oh Fairy Godmother is looking radiant," Snow White said as it cuts back to the television. "But what is happening with Jane's hair? And there's Fairy Godmother's wand!"**

"I'm so sorry Jane," Snow said, turning to the younger girl. "I should have never made that comment."

Jane waved it off though, she figured that there would be comments like that just as there were comments before Mal changed her hair.

**Fairy Godmother uncovered the bell jar with the wand underneath it.**

**"** **I want that wand!" Maleficent exclaimed, getting closer to the television.**

**"** **Do you? Hadn't heard," Cruella quipped. Maleficent turned to glare at her.**

Carlos couldn't help but snort in amusement. Despite his mother being a fur obsessed lunatic, that was still a good line.

**"** **Oh and here comes Ben now!" Snow White's voice from the television brought Maleficent's attention to the coronation. The scene cuts to Ben and Mal riding toward the chapel, Mal holding a blue box and looking nervous while Ben seemed more relaxed. Ben looked over at Mal, who had her head down, and grabbed her hand while offering her a smile.**

"Mal!" Evie gasped. "You look gorgeous!"

"I don't know why you're surprised," Mal chuckled. "It's probably a dress you made."

"Mal, you look like a princess!" Dizzy grinned.

"Yeah, all hail her royal purpleness!" Hadie yelled and Mal nudged his shoulder.

**"** **Don't be nervous," Ben said. "All you have to do is sit there and look beautiful. No problem there."**

Many of the girls sighed, longing for a guy to say that to them.

**"** **Thank you," Mal told him but looked back toward the box.**

**"** **Mal? Would you wear my ring?" Ben asked, never letting go of Mal's hand.**

Audrey stared at the screen in shock. Ben had never asked her to wear his ring—though Audrey had always assumed it was because of how active she was. That ring was a family heirloom of Ben's and the last thing she wanted was for it to fly off in cheer practice.

 _He's spelled, that's all it is,_ Audrey thought but in her heart she knew that her head was wrong. There was truly something there if Ben was offering his grandfather's ring.

She just hoped Mal wouldn't do anything to hurt her oldest friend.

**Mal, shocked, lets go of Ben's hand and holds it close to her. "Um…not now. I think it would probably just fall right off of me."**

"Why not just spell it to stay on?" Hadie asked.

"My mother's spell book is better suited for evil," Mal told him.

"Right, the same spell book that makes cookies and fixes people's hair," Kristoff quipped, having overheard Mal's comment.

"Wait, what did we miss?" Nancy asked, turning to Giselle who quickly brought her friend and ex-fiance up to speed.

**The two sat in silence for a few seconds before Mal spoke up.**

**"** **I have something for you," Mal told him.**

**"** **For me?" Ben asked, looking surprised and delighted at the same time.**

"Don't look so surprised, Ben," Lonnie chuckled.

**"** **Yeah," Mal said, giving him the blue box. "It's just for later, you know, when you need strength. Some carbs to keep up your energy."**

"Seriously? How are sweets evil?" Kristoff asked. "And why would there be an Anti-Love potion in the spell book anyway?"

**"** **Always thinking," Ben told her as he looked back at the box, causing Mal to laugh. "But I can't wait," Ben said and took the brownie out of the box and took a bite.**

**"** **No!" Mal exclaimed.**

"I don't think Mal wanted that to happen," Kitty shook her head. "Seriously Ben, what is with you eating food Mal doesn't want you to eat?"

**"** **Mm! This is really good," Ben told her.**

"Really?" Mal asked, turning toward Ben.

"Make it for me and I'll tell you," Ben teased and Mal flushed as she remembered that this scene hadn't happened yet.

**"** **Uh, do you—"**

**"** **Mal?"**

**"** **Do you feel okay?" Mal asked.**

"Why wouldn't he?" Hadie asked. "I mean, he ate a brownie. It's not like when I was seven and you knocked that beehive down and it landed right on your—"

Mal quickly placed a hand over the younger boy's mouth but it wasn't there for long as Hadie licked Mal's palm to remove the offending limb.

"Aww!" Hadie pouted as Mal didn't squeal in disgust.

"You can take the girl out of the Isle but you can't take the Isle out of the girl," Mal told him.

"You can tell us the rest of the story later," Carlos whispered to Hadie. He didn't know why Mal seemed to have a close bond with the younger boy, but any embarrassing stories were always welcomed.

"I heard that!"

**"** **You bet," Ben said, giving her a small smile.**

**"** **Would you say that you're still in—that you have very strong feelings for me?" Mal asked, stuttering over the question as Ben licked the rest of the brownie off his fingers.**

Melody and Grace leaned forward, eager to know the answer.

"Of course he is!" Roman exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "It's just like all the stories, where true love conquers all!"

"Roman," Rosetta warned her son. While not biologically hers, Rosetta still loved the young boy with all her heart.

"Ugh, feelings," Logan Linguini groaned, straightening his glasses.

"Logan," his father gave him a look and shook his head.

**"** **I'm not sure," Ben told her as he set the box down on the carriage floor. "I mean, let's give the anti-love potion a few minutes to take effect. Yeah."**

"YOU KNEW!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Well, know," Ben corrected them. "But yes, I knew. I've known since Mal and my first date."

"At the Enchanted Lake!" Jane shouted.

"Meaning you're not spelled right now," Audrey said faintly. "You love her."

Ben looked over at Audrey, who had silent tears streaming down her face as she realized that Ben would never be her's again. But she still smiled as she realized her best friend would be happy.

Aurora looked over at her daughter and saw the same tears streaming down her face. There was nothing Aurora wanted more than to comfort her daughter but she didn't want to embarrass Audrey in front of her peers.

**"** **Okay," Mal said faintly before the realization hit her. "What?"**

**Ben laughed at her reaction.**

"Oh that's nice," Emir shook his head. "You shock your girlfriend and then you laugh at her reaction?"

**"** **What? You knew?" Mal exclaimed.**

**"** **That you spelled me? Yeah, yeah I knew," Ben told her.**

**"** **I'm—I can explain myself," Mal told him, stumbling over her words.**

**"** **No, look, it's fine," Ben told her, still amused by everything. "I mean, you had a crush on me, I was with Audrey. You didn't trust that it could happen on its own. Am I right?"**

"You couldn't be further from the truth," Patton chuckled, pushing his glasses back up as they slid down his nose.

**"** **Yes," Mal told him, laughing in relief at the lack of an explosion. "You're so right."**

**Her amusement and relief faded as she looked back at Ben. "So, then, how long have you known?"**

**"** **Since our first date," he told her. "Your spell washed away in the Enchanted Lake."**

"Wait," Carlos spoke up. "Why isn't Mal surprised?"

The five Isle kids looked at Mal, who shrugged.

"Secret secrets are no fun! Tell me now or else we're done!" Hadie exclaimed, glaring at his sister.

"Evie already tried that, Hadie," Mal chuckled. "Didn't work then, won't work now."

"The last break! Ben told you!" Evie shouted.

**"** **So then what? You've just been faking it since then?" Mal asked.**

**"** **I haven't been faking anything," Ben told her as he slid his ring onto her finger and kissed the back of her hand before looking back up at her and giving her a smile. Mal smiled back, disbelief evident on her face. Their carriage reached the chapel and Ben helped her out of the carriage.**

"Awww!" Elle sighed, wishing she could have a prince like Mal's.

Meanwhile, Mal and Ben shared a chuckle over the similarities in their dialogue to when Ben had told Mal in the previous break.

**The scene zooms out onto the tv on the Isle.**

**"** **Well, if it isn't…"**

**"** **My daughter," Maleficent finished the Evil Queen's sentence, shocked. "Looking like some kind of—"**

"Is she shocked that I'm wearing a dress or that I'm going in with Ben?" Mal asked.

"Knowing your mother? Either or," Evie sighed.

**"** **Princess!" The Snow White on the tv finished. "Now let's see who this beauty is wearing. Evie?"**

"Evie!" Dizzy squealed.

"That's me!" Evie gasped. Mal shook her head at her best friend.

"Of course it's you! If anyone's going to force me into a dress, it'll be you and only you."

**"** **Evie! That's my dau..Evie!" The Evil Queen exclaimed.**

Evie blinked back the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. "Is she proud of me?"

**"** **Someone named Evie designed her gown," Snow White finished.**

**"** **That's my daughter!" The Evil Queen exclaimed once more, astonished to hear her daughter's name as the designer.**

**"** **Oh wow, she sewed a dress," Maleficent shot back, getting up and standing next to the Evil Queen, who was almost next to the tv. "Meanwhile, my girl duped a prince and she's this close to grabbing the magic wand!"**

Evie and Mal shared a smile at the sight of their mothers celebrating their achievements. Even though in her heart Mal knew she didn't want to go through with the plot, it was still nice to hear her mother be proud of her. Or at least as proud as she could be.

**"** **Bitter, party of one. Bitter, party of one," the Evil Queen taunted.**

"How is that bitter?" Penny asked.

**"** **It's happening people!" Maleficent exclaimed, startling the villains. "It's happening! I say, gird your loins. Gird your loins! Villains, our revenge begins today!"**

"So is it wrong to say I really don't want to think about Maleficent's loins?" Phillip Jr asked, causing everyone around him to chuckle.

**Going back to the coronation, Mal and Ben approached the King and Queen hand in hand. As they reached the top of the stairs, Mal curtsied to them.**

**"** **About the other day, I just…"**

"You're not the one who needs to apologize Mal," Aurora told the younger girl, giving her a kind smile before looking straight at Queen Leah. "You did nothing wrong."

**"** **I told Ben this wasn't going to be easy," Adam/Beast told Mal, giving her an apologetic look.**

**"** **You also taught me that a king has to believe in himself. Even when it isn't easy," Ben reminded him.**

"I did?" Adam/Beast asked.

"Every day since I was five, dad," Ben reminded him.

**"** **I did?" Adam/Beast asked, causing Belle to whack him on the arm. "I…how very wise of me."**

"Nice save," Eugene chuckled.

**Belle grabbed Ben's hands, ignoring her husband. "Ben, we are very proud of you. You keep listening to your heart."**

**"** **Thanks, mom," Ben told her, giving his mom a big smile.**

**"** **You're going to make a fine king," Adam/Beast told his son. Adam/Beast took Belle's hand and walked off. Ben walked closer to Mal.**

Ben couldn't help but shoot his parents a smile. Lately he'd been worried that he wasn't going to be much of a king considering how everyone was treating the four from the Isle. It was nice to hear otherwise.

**"** **Wish me luck," Ben said as the man standing behind Mal cleared his throat. Mal held out her hand and the man took it, leading her off opposite the direction the King and Queen went. Ben walked into the chapel. Inside the chapel, a children's choir is singing while Jay, Evie and Carlos are seen with their fellow classmates in the balcony. All three of the Isle kids look nervous.**

"So, question," Evie spoke up. "You stated that up front it's just you, your parents and your girlfriend. Why then were Audrey and Chad allowed up front and yet we apparently have to go to the balcony?"

"Audrey's Grandmother's plus one," Phillip Jr. spoke up before Ben had the chance to say anything. "I can't speak for Chad though."

**Ben walks into the room as the King and Queen rose from their seats. As Ben continued to make his way into the hall, everyone bowed or curtsied as he passed. As he made his way to the center, Ben shot a small smile toward Mal.**

"Could he be walking any slower?" Maggie gripped.

"He's probably nervous," Emma told her.

**"** **Don't blow it, kiddo," Maleficent whispered as she watched on her television.**

No one commented on that. They all knew that Maleficent's definition of 'blowing it' and theirs were two very different things.

**Fairy Godmother walked toward the bell jar holding the wand and exchanged a greeting with Belle before bowing to Adam/Beast. He bowed back, allowing her to take off his crown. Ben knelt before the bell jar while Mal stared at the wand in apprehension.**

"Is she going to grab it?" Hadie whispered to Dizzy, who shrugged in response.

**Fairy Godmother lowered the crown onto Ben's head, causing the prince to smile to himself before looking up at his parents. His dad nodded his head, causing Ben's smile to grow as he looked head on. Mal continued to stare at the proceedings, her feelings evident on her face. Adam/Beast lifted the bell jar, revealing the wand.**

"Woah!" Dizzy and Hadie gasped upon seeing the wand.

"Is that crown the right size?" Lucy whispered to Kitty, who shushed her sister.

**Mal looked up at her friends in the balcony, and then back at the wand; she didn't know that her mother had gotten closer to the television in her excitement.**

"Your mother has a problem," Jay told Mal.

"You think I don't know that?"

**Belle handed the wand to Fairy Godmother, who made her way in front of Ben.**

**"** **Do you solely swear to govern the peoples of Auradon with justice and mercy as long as you shall reign?" Fairy Godmother asked Ben.**

"That's a lot to ask a sixteen year old," Ariel frowned. She knew she was nervous when she became Eric's princess at sixteen. She couldn't imagine being queen at that age.

**"** **Oh grab the thing already!" Maleficent exclaimed though her voice was near a whisper.**

"Oh right and it's not like there aren't hundreds of people who could stop me," Mal scoffed. "Not to mention you're asking me to hold the most powerful magical item with barely any training in my own powers."

**"** **I do solemnly swear," Ben told the Fairy Godmother.**

**Fairy Godmother tapped Ben's shoulders with her wand, a great big smile on her face. "Then it is my honor and my joy to bless our new king."**

**Everyone gasped as the wand was taken out of Fairy Godmother's hand. Meanwhile, back on the Isle, the villains were celebrating.**

"I told you Ben!" Chad exclaimed. "Mal stole the wand! Right in front of you too!"

"You don't know that Chad," Audrey said softly and yet everyone was still able to hear her.

"What?!" Chad gasped. "Audrey? You're sticking up for her?!"

"I'm not sticking up for her," Audrey rolled her eyes. "However, all we saw was a hand. We're already grounded enough, Chad. Use the brain I know you have and think before you speak."

Everyone stared at her in shock. It was a good five minutes before anyone was able to say anything.

"Maybe we are related," Phillip Jr. whispered.

"Okay, she'd be an okay sister in law," Kitty muttered to Lucy, who nodded in return.

**"** **Yes!" Maleficent exclaimed.**

**"** **Oh!" The Evil Queen gasped.**

**"** **Yes!"**

"Why mother?" Mal sighed, shaking her head at her mother's antics.

**Hands could be seen holding the wand as power surged, whoever was holding it was clearly not experienced with the magic the wand held. The energy from the wand made its way to the Isle, where a small hole was created in the barrier. On the Isle, the room the villains in shook due to the impact.**

**"** **Oh!" Maleficent exclaimed.**

**"** **The barrier is broken!" The Evil Queen announced. "We're free!"**

"It's not broken," Carlos scoffed. "The wand did the same thing I accidentally did when I wanted to get better channels on the television."

"Wait," Adam/Beast turned to Carlos. "There's a small hole in the barrier?"

"Maybe?"

**Maleficent opened the double doors to the balcony before holding out her hand. "Scepter! Now!"**

**The scepter moved to her hand instantly and Maleficent disappeared in a cloud of smoke, her cackle lingering on the wind.**

"On second thought, Maleficent with her magic is probably the most terrifying thing in the world," Carlos said, not trying to think about what that would mean for Auradon.

**Back at the coronation, the guests were still dodging the energy from the wand.**

**"** **Child, what are you doing?!" The Fairy Godmother exclaimed as it was revealed that Jane had stolen the wand, not Mal.**

"JANE!" Lonnie exclaimed. "How could you—"

"I don't know!" Jane shouted. "I haven't done this yet!"

Tears streamed down her face, however, as she saw her future self struggling with the wand. If she was truly a powerful fairy like her mother, the wand would have accepted her.

**"** **If you won't make me beautiful, I'll do it myself," Jane retorted, still struggling against the power of the wand. Ben ran and positioned himself in front of Mal, while Adam/Beast held his arm in front of Belle to keep her from going forward. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"**

"This is not going to end well," Alexi muttered, as his mother grabbed on to his sleeve. Both of his parents had bad memories of magic and so were very happy when Fairy Godmother had retired the wand.

**"** **Take cover!" Adam/Beast shouted as Jane spun around, clearly unchanged. The energy from the wand continued to terrorize the guests and Mal ran up to Jane, trying to take the wand from her.**

"Be careful Mal!" Morgan shouted.

"Don't get hit!" Violet told her, Valerie placing a hand on her little sister's shoulder to try to keep her calm.

**"** **Careful, Mal!" Belle exclaimed as Mal and Jane struggled for the wand.**

Mal looked over at Belle in shock, clearly not expecting to hear those words come from the Queen's mouth.

"I mean it," Belle told her, noticing the look of shock on her son's girlfriend's face. "Or will mean it…dealing with the future is complicated."

**Mal ripped the wand from Jane's hand and the energy seemed to retreat back into the wand.**

"Whoo!" Hadie cheered. He didn't know much about the wand but knew that his half-sister's powers from their father would have helped.

Meg looked over at Mal in shock. How could she have subdued the wand when Jane, the daughter of the Fairy Godmother, could not? They were both half Fairy after all.

**Mal struggled to catch her breath while the other three Isle kids made their way from their spot in the balcony. Jane ran off as the other guests cowered in fear. Ben quickly moved from the side to stand between Mal and his parents.**

"Really?" Mal raised her eyebrow at Ben. "Here's a thought—why wouldn't I just walk up the stairs and give it back to Fairy Godmother?"

"I can not defend nor explain the actions of my future self," Ben told her.

**"** **Mal, give me the wand," Ben said calmly.**

**"** **Stand back!" Mal told him, her voice oddly calm as she kept both hands on the wand. The doors burst open as Carlos, Evie and Jay ran through.**

"So we're going through with it," Evie sighed, looking sadly at Doug. He was going to go back to sit with his family, she knew it. To her surprise, she felt a hand on hers.

"I'm not going anywhere," Doug told her. "Even if this is what may happen, it doesn't mean it will."

"Doug's right," Emir said, causing the half dwarf to jump because he hadn't realized the prince had heard him. "Sides, after what you've told us, there's not much you could say to your parents to get you out of this mission."

**"** **It's okay," Ben told her, reaching a hand out for the wand.**

**"** **Ben, I said stand back!" Mal repeated, an edge to her voice.**

"What's with the edge?" Jay asked. "You were the one insisting on stealing the wand in the first place. Why not just take it and run?"

"Oh, maybe it's because it's probably taking everything I have to subdue the freaking thing in the first place?" Mal threw out there. " _That_ is the most powerful item in existence and I'm half-Fairy. At some point, that magic will overpower me."

"No it won't!" Hadie chimed in, looking at Mal in confusion. "If anyone can keep that wand from going crazy, you can Mally!"

A few of the girls sitting near them aww'd at the statement.

"Thank you Hadie, but we have to be realistic," Mal told him. "That's Fairy Godmother's wand—"

"So?" Hadie asked, getting a little agitated that Mal was ignoring the obvious. For someone older than him, she sure was dumb. "You're half-God, _remember_?"

There was silence throughout the room. Everyone stared at Hadie and Mal in shock.

"Um, Mal?" Evie asked. "You want me to distract them so you can run or…"

Mal shook her head. "Thanks Hadie. I _was_ hoping that would be revealed in a big room of people already judging us from being from the Isle."

"No problem," Hadie told her with a grin.

"There's only one God on the Isle," Meg said in a faint voice, as if figuring it out. "Is Hades your father?" She asked in a louder voice, gathering the attention of everyone.

Mal took a deep breath and simply nodded once. "Yes," she stated. "But my mother is not Hadie's mother," she elaborated but that was all she was going to say.

"I knew it," Meg smirked.

"How?" Mal asked, slightly shocked.

"I was around your father for a good portion of my life," Meg told her. "You share many traits, but it's the chin that really stood out."

"Um, are we not going to address the Cerberus in the room?" Chad piped up. "So not only is _Mal_ the daughter of the Mistress of all Evil but she's also the daughter of the Lord of the Underworld?"

"So you _can_ keep track of things that aren't about you," Kitty said, throwing a smirk her brother's way.

"Got a thing against half gods?" Hyllus asked, glaring at Chad. Chad, for once in his life, picked the wise move and did not answer. Queen Leah, on the other hand, did open her mouth.

"Mother, don't say a word," Aurora told her, shutting her mother down. "Mal has proven time and time again that she is not her mother and now we can say that she is not her parents. She can't control who she was born to any more than Audrey or Ben, or Chad, or myself."

Ben couldn't help but stare at Mal in shock. Not only was she the daughter of the most powerful magic user known to man, but she was also the daughter of one of the most powerful gods? It was a lot to take in.

**"** **I told you so!" Audrey shouted from the audience and Mal turned toward her, causing the others to scream.**

"Really Audrey?" Phillip Jr. groaned. "Was that _really_ the best time for an 'I told you so'?"

**Evie, Jay and Carlos ran up toward Mal, worried for their friend.**

**"** **Let's go," Carlos said.**

**"** **Revenge time," Jay told her, his teeth clenched.**

"You kids really don't want to do this, do you?" Aladdin asked, looking over at Jay. Jay gave a shrug in return.

"I mean, it doesn't matter what we do or don't want to do," Jay told him. "Maleficent runs the Isle, she could make our lives a living hell if we refused or failed."

"That's if we had lives at all," Carlos muttered.

**"** **You really want to do this?" Ben asked.**

**"** **We have no choice, Ben!" Mal exclaimed, exasperation evident in her voice. "Our parents—"**

**"** **Your parents made their choice," Ben told her. "Now you make yours."**

**He relaxed his posture and Mal stared at him, before looking up at Adam/Beast, Belle and Fairy Godmother; all waiting to hear Mal's answer.**

"No pressure," Kit muttered, feeling sorry for the young girl. She obviously wanted to make her mother proud and yet felt conflicted based on how she felt for Ben. Kit couldn't help but think of himself back before he married Ella. True, his father wasn't the Mistress of all Evil but the pressure was still there.

**"** **I think I want to be good," Mal said, her voice faint.**

**"** **You are good," Ben told her, his voice projecting loud so that all in the chapel could hear.**

**"** **How do you know that?" Mal asked.**

**"** **Because…" Ben said, taking a minute to think over his answer. "Because I'm listening to my heart."**

"But your heart is just an organ," Logan pointed out. "It would be your brain that makes the best decisions and—"

"Logan, shut your ever flapping gob talker," Patton cut in, as he had been enjoying the scene and Logan's comments ruined the moment.

**Mal paused, as if thinking over the words Ben had said. "I want to listen to my heart too," she said after a few minutes. She lowered the wand and turned to face her friends. "And my heart is telling me that we are not our parents."**

"Try telling everyone else that," Kristoff muttered and looked over at his fellow Learning to be Royal members. They would have to bring Mal in at some point since it seemed as though Ben was truly smitten with her.

**The other three stared at her but didn't react; Evie gave Mal a small smile.**

**"** **I mean, stealing things doesn't make you happy," Mal told Jay. "Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy."**

**Jay smiled at the thought as a boy in the audience shouted in agreement.**

"Emir, was that you?" Jasmine asked, chuckling at her son's antics.

"I don't know!"

"Doesn't pizza make everyone happy?" Jamie asked.

"Unless you put pineapple on it," Annabelle chimed in.

"You know where liars go, right?" Jaime turned to Annabelle. "Their rooms! March!"

"I would but I'm not a liar!"

**"** **And you," Mal said, turning to Carlos. "Scratching Dude's belly makes you happy. Who would have thought?"**

Rodger and Anita shared a smile at that, knowing Carlos would have a great time with all their Dalmatians.

**Mal gave a small laugh at that before turning to Evie. "And Evie. You do not have to play dumb to get a guy. You are so smart."**

"The smartest girl I know," Doug said, causing Evie to smile at him.

**Both girls laughed as they blinked back tears and Mal sighed. "And I don't want to take over the world with evil. It doesn't make me happy. I want to go to school."**

Everyone looked over at Mal in shock, obviously not expecting that answer.

"She's faking—"

"That is it mother!" Aurora exclaimed. "I've tried to be nice but you've gone too far with your constant rants and put downs toward Mal and the others. Audrey and Phillip will not be staying with you this summer. Not until I know you're not trying to foist your horrid views on them."

"I have every right to see my granddaughter," Leah shot back. "She's the future of this family."

"Do you even hear yourself?" Aurora asked. "I forbid you from seeing both your grandchildren and your main concern is not seeing Audrey?"

"Seeing how you favor Phillip, I should be concerned," Leah spat. "Audrey's just doing what she should be doing and you're taking away her phone and grounding her."

"And if Phillip was seen doing the same thing, I'd punish him the same way," Aurora said, standing up. She turned toward Audrey. "Audrey, love, it's your choice. You're old enough now to make your own decisions."

"Wait, are you making me choose, mother?" Audrey asked. "Between you and Grammy?"

"I told you, it's always the children who suffer," Leah sniffed but was shocked as Audrey launched from her seat and wrapped her arms around Aurora's waist, not caring for once about how others thought of her.

"I'll always choose you," Audrey whispered. "I'm so sorry, mother. Grammy had us the whole summer while you and dad were helping with that freak snow fall in Arendelle."

"Hush my flower," Aurora comforted her daughter, rubbing Audrey's back.

"I take it I'm still grounded?" Audrey asked when they separated and everyone around them chuckled.

"Yes," Aurora nodded. "But I think being away from your grandmother will be more of a punishment for her than it is you."

Audrey nodded and then turned to Mal. "I don't think we'll ever truly get along but if you truly are trying to do good, I can accept the fact you're dating Ben. Just know this, if you hurt my friend, I'll hurt you."

"How un-princessy of you, Audrey. Tell me, if you didn't know I was the God of Death's daughter, would you still be saying this?" Mal smirked. A tense few seconds passed before the two of them burst into laughter.

"The question still stands though," Mal said after the laughter cleared.

"I don't know what I'd do if I didn't know you were Hades' daughter at this moment," Audrey said.

"Good answer," Mal smirked. "Just remember Audrey, we're not the only ones who you put through hell."

Audrey nodded and sat next to her brother.

**The crowd gasped as Mal said this and Fairy Godmother smiled from the back.**

**"** **And be with Ben," Mal continued, causing Ben to lift his head in shock. Mal turned to face Ben and held up her hand which still had his ring on. "Because Ben makes me really happy."**

Ben beamed at that and wrapped his arm over Mal's shoulder. "You make me really happy too," he told her.

**Ben smiled at her, as did Adam/Beast and Belle.**

**"** **Us being friends makes me really happy," Mal said, turning back to her friends. "Not destroying things. I choose good, you guys,"**

**Mal held her fist in the middle of her group of friends, who stood motionless. Fairy Godmother gasped and held a hand to her mouth while Belle looked up at her husband. Mal looked at her friends in apprehension before a fist joined hers.**

Everyone held their breath, unsure as to which of the remaining Isle kids would join Mal.

**"** **I choose good too," Jay told her, causing Mal to chuckle before looking over at Evie.**

Aladdin couldn't help but give Jay a kind smile while Dizzy gave Evie a worried look.

**"** **I choose good," Evie said, putting her fist in the middle.**

"Mal's my best friend," Evie said. "Where she goes, I go."

**"** **So, just to be clear," Carlos said, "we don't have to be worried about how really mad our parents will be?"**

"They won't be able to get you," Anita promised. "In fact, I have a few words I'd like to say to my 'dear, devoted old school mate'."

"If it came to a fight between her and mom, I'd pick her," Carlos whispered to Jay.

"Same," Jay whispered back.

**Mal threw her head back in laughter and the others looked amused as well.**

**"** **Because they're going to be really, really mad," Carlos added.**

**"** **Your parents can't reach you here," Ben told him, walking toward the group.**

"Umm….you sure about that?" Dizzy asked. "Cause I'm pretty sure we all saw Maleficent leave the Isle."

**Carlos shot him a small smile before saying "Okay then. Good." He put his fist in the middle as Mal looked back at her boyfriend and gestured for him to join them.**

**"** **Come on," Mal said. Belle leaned on Adam/Beast as they smiled at the kids while Ben made his way to stand next to Mal and put his fist in the middle as well. Everyone applauded as Mal rested her head on Ben's shoulder and smiled at Evie.**

Everyone couldn't help but smile at the scene, and couldn't help but hope that would be it. These kids didn't need the troubles they were dealing with, they were kids!

**An explosion prevented any further celebration as everyone gasped in fear and panic. A ball of green smoke entered the chapel and upon fading revealed Maleficent. Fairy Godmother stared at the sight in fear.**

**"** **I'm back!" Maleficent exclaimed.**

"Oh no!" Mal groaned.

"That's your mom?" Hadie asked, causing everyone to look at him.

"How do you—?"

"Mom keeps me inside when she's around and you really think dad trusts Maleficent to not hurt me?"

"Good point," Mal conceded. "But they showed her earlier and I called her 'mother'."

"I didn't hear you."

**"** **It can't be," Mal whispered as Ben stood in front of his mother to shield her from Maleficent's view. "Go away mother," Mal said, clearly done with her mother's antics.**

"Nice," Emir grinned.

"No way it's that easy," Grace sighed.

**"** **She's funny," Maleficent laughed before giving a little snort. "Oh! I'm so—you're very funny. Here. Wand me. Chop chop."**

"Don't do it, Mal!" Dizzy shouted.

**She pointed to the ground next to her and gestured for Mal to give her the wand.**

**"** **No!" Ben shouted. Mal threw the wand to Fairy Godmother, causing the audience to gasp.**

Dizzy sighed in relief—this was it, Fairy Godmother would stop Maleficent and Mal and Evie and Carlos and Jay could be happy.

**"** **Bibbid-bobbidi—"**

**"** **Boo," Maleficent interrupted before lifting her scepter and freezing all but the kids from the Isle and herself. "Psych."**

"She can do that?" Audrey gasped, looking over at Mal as she realized just who Mal's mother truly was.

"The sleeping curse was light," Mal told her. She did want to mention the fact that her mother's curse originally called for Aurora's death but thought since the peace between herself and Audrey was so fragile, it was a bad idea.

**She chuckled to herself once more before catching notice of Adam/Beast. "Ooh," she said as she walked over to him. "Ooh, in another time, in another time," she said, taking off Adam/Beast's glasses and holding them to her mouth.**

Mal gagged at the thought of her mother and Adam/Beast together. "I'm sorry but that's wrong."

"That kinda goes up there with her loins," Phillip Jr. spoke up. "It goes on a list of things I don't want to ever think about!"

**As she walked through the royals, Maleficent could be heard singing 'Evil Like Me' under her breath. "Ow!"**

"How does she know that?" Zephyr asked, looking over to Mal for an answer.

"Because she's been singing that since I was six," Mal told the younger boy. "It was basically a lullaby for me at times."

"Better lullaby than what I got," Kovu muttered under his breath.

**She snatched the Fairy Godmother's wand from her hand. "Oh, oh no. Someone needs to pluck their nose hairs," Maleficent said, gesturing with the wand to the offending items.**

"Why I never!" Fairy Godmother gasped. "Using the wand in that way—"

"Mom?" Jane interrupted. "It's not going to happen this time. You don't need to worry about it."

"Oh yes," Fairy Godmother nodded.

**"** **Where shall we begin? I know. Why don't we start by getting rid of this?"  
**

**Maleficent pointed the wand in Mal's direction and caused her hand to fly up, knocking Ben's ring off her hand and onto the wand.**

"No!" Mal gasped, hoping she'd be allowed one thing of Ben's to remind her of him when the villains took over. But it was too much to expect her mother to allow her that small bit of happiness.

**"** **Perfect fit!" Maleficent exclaimed. Mal gasped and looked at her now bare hand.**

**"** **Oh, excuse me. Pardon me, excuse me," Maleficent said, ducking under Fairy Godmother's outstretched hand. "The horns, the horns."**

**Mal put her hand down while Evie looked at her with sympathy in her eyes.**

**"** **Aw," Maleficent chuckled as she made her way toward Ben. "Falling in love is weak and ridiculous."**

"Don't you touch him!" Audrey and Mal yelled at the same time. The former enemies looked over at each other and nodded. While they may never truly like one another, they knew that Maleficent having anything to do with Ben was much, much worse than anything they could think of.

**She tilted Ben's crown to the side as she batted his head back and forth. "It's not what you want," Maleficent told Mal as she made her way toward her daughter.**

"How does she know that?" Aurora asked. "Has she asked you, Mal?"

"Never came up," Mal shrugged.

Aurora shook her head. "Children are not our chance for a do over," she sighed.

**"** **You don't know what I want!" Mal shouted. "Mom, have you ever once asked me what I want? I'm not you!"**

**"** **Oh, obviously," Maleficent told her.**

If one looked closely, they would have seen Mal wince at that. The one thing she feared, that she would never be her mother, had come to pass.

Thankfully, Hadie did look closely and subtly grabbed his sister's hand.

**"** **I've had years and years and years and years of practice being evil. You'll get there."**

"No I won't," Mal said. "I don't want to. If I'm given the choice, I'll never want to. I've seen what it does to people and I never want to be sent back to the Isle."

"Same," Evie nodded, Carlos and Jay muttering their agreement in the background.

**"** **No, I will not," Mal told her, an air of finality to her voice. "And I really wish that you had never gotten there yourself."**

**Maleficent's stare deepened as she realized that her daughter was not going to come willingly.**

**"** **Love is not weak or ridiculous," Mal told her mother. "It's actually really amazing."**

"How would you know?" Chad scoffed. "You said earlier you didn't know what love felt like."

SPLAT

"LUCY CHARMING!" Cinderella exclaimed as Chad got another face full of pudding.

"I've wanted to do that ever since you did, sis," Lucy grinned and wrapped an arm around Kitty's shoulders.

**"** **I know one thing, young lady. You have no room for love in your life," Maleficent declared, pointing the wand at Mal. Mal glared at her mother before reaching out her hand.**

"I have more than enough room," Mal muttered looking down at Hadie before looking around at all her friends and boyfriend. "I just wish she had room for love in her life."

"Mal, what are you planning?" Evie asked, directing Mal's attention back to the screen and noticing the screen Mal's outstretched hand.

**"** **And now I command, wand to my hand!" Mal recited and the wand glowed yellow, as if pixie dust had been dropped on it. Maleficent struggled against the wand but it quickly made its way to Mal's hand. She stared at the wand in shock as Carlos smiled at her success. "Ha! It worked!"**

"It worked?" Mal gasped.

"You're Hades' daughter," Paige said. "Wouldn't his powers plus Maleficent's powers mean you were more powerful than Maleficent?"

"Oh that's cute kid," Mal chuckled. "No one is more powerful than my mother. Well with the exception of the Blue Fairy."

**"** **I hardly think so," Maleficent said as she turned around to face the royals. "Frankly, this is tedious and very immature. Give me the wand. Give me the wand!" Maleficent shouted, turning back to her daughter and the others.**

"She says we're acting immature but then she throws a tantrum?" Carlos asked.

"Hey, it's better than bursting into song," Jay pointed out.

**"** **Hold on, Mal," Carlos said, and Maleficent looked over at him in surprise. "Maybe good really is more powerful than evil."**

**Maleficent burst out laughing at the very notion. "Oh please! You're killing me!" She then proceeded to bark at Carlos as if to get him to cower in fear. All it did was cause Dude to jump up and land in Maleficent's arms.**

"GO DUDE!" Several of the younger students cheered on the dog, causing the dog that was in the room to bark.

**"** **Oh! Oh, the breath! The breath! Get off me!" Maleficent shouted as she gently threw Dude to the ground. Jay took the moment of Maleficent's distraction to grab the scepter but found that he could not move it. Maleficent smirked and closed the distance between herself and Jay.**

"Jay, it wouldn't have worked for two reasons," Mal sighed.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked. "I always get anything I steal."

"Mother always said that there were only two ways someone could lift the scepter," Mal explained. "One, they had to be related to her by blood—so me or any siblings I had by her, or two, they wanted it for the purpose of being evil. I doubt you wanted it for evil and unless Jafar and mother have been keeping a secret from us for a very long time, we're not related."

**"** **Gaston should be jealous," she said, feeling Jay's bicep before flicking him to the ground. Maleficent cackled in victory before shouting "Enough!"**

"The only way Gaston would be jealous would be if I was involved, I would assume," Belle sighed. "Is he a father?" She asked, turning to the Isle kids.

"Yep," Mal nodded. "Three sons—Gaston Jr, Gaston Jr, and Gil."

"He named two of his sons after himself?" Belle asked.

"They're twins."

**Mal and the others gathered around Jay as Maleficent spun around. "You all will regret this!" Maleficent declared. The same green smoke as before filled the room and as it faded, a giant dragon stood where Maleficent once was.**

"Oh my gods," Phillip exclaimed, clutching his son close to him, Audrey being too far away to bring into his arms as well. It was one thing seeing that monster in his dreams, it was another to have it be in the same room as his son and daughter, unable to defend themselves.

**Mal gasped upon seeing her mother in that form. The dragon sent a burst of fire toward Jay who barely made it out of the way. He ran to the side but was followed by the dragon.**

"RUN JAY!" Several people exclaimed.

**"** **Come on. Run, Jay, run!" Carlos shouted as the dragon roared. Jay scrambled to his feet and ran back to the crowd, trying to run away from the dragon. However Maleficent blocked his escape at every turn.**

"This can not be good," Emma gulped.

**"** **Hurry, Jay! Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Mal shouted as the dragon flew higher before diving down, its mouth open and fangs ready to devour the son of Jafar.**

"No!" Lonnie exclaimed.

**"** **Jay, come on! Please, Jay! Jay!" Mal continued to shout as Jay ran as fast as he could. For a second, it looked as though the dragon was going to grab him.**

**"** **Magic mirror, show your bright light!" Evie commanded, blinding the dragon with a light from her mirror; allowing Jay a moment to roll to safety. The dragon, blinded, crashed to the ground.**

"That didn't rhyme," Moira pointed out.

"Not the time love," Merida told her daughter.

"That was some quick thinking," Snow told Evie, giving her a relieved smile.

**"** **Behind me, E!" Mal told her friend before facing her mother. "Leave my friends alone!"**

**The dragon roared but Mal did not move. "This is between you and me, mother."**

"It shouldn't have to be," the Blue Fairy sighed as she saw the young half-Fairy square up against her mother. "I should have been there and I am terribly sorry that I wasn't."

"In all due respect, this hasn't happened yet," Mal told her.

**Maleficent's eyes glowed green, as did Mal's just like they did before. The only difference being was that Mal began to chant.**

**"** **The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before four hearts as one," Mal recited as her friends crept up to stand behind her. "The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before hearts as one. The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before hearts as one!"**

"Come on Mal!" Evie pleaded.

"You got this," Ben told Mal, grabbing her remaining hand as the other one was still being held by Hadie.

**Mother and daughter locked eyes, each pair of glowing green refusing to blink. Suddenly the dragon screeched and the cloud of green smoke returned and engulfed the dragon in it. Mal gasped and looked at Evie in shock. As Mal looked back, the Fairy Godmother unfroze.**

"What just happened?" Mal asked.

"More importantly could Fairy Godmother do that the whole time?" Evie responded, referring to the unfreezing.

**"** **Oh!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed. The four rushed to the center of the room, where there was still a small patch of green smoke.**

**"** **What just happened?"**

**"** **I have no idea."**

**"** **Did you do it?"**

**"** **I don't know."**

**"** **No, no, no, no," Fairy Godmother told them, rushing toward them. "Your mother did. She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That's why it's so itty-bitty."**

Mal stared at the screen in shock—she had actually done it. She'd beaten her mother in a stare down. Words could not describe the amount of pride she felt toward that accomplishment. It was a shame, though that it would never happen.

**"** **Is she going to be like that forever?" Mal asked, kneeling down toward the lizard that was now her mother.**

**"** **Well, forever is a long time," Fairy Godmother told her, kneeling down next to her. "You learned to love. So can she."**

"If my mother was going to learn to love, she would have done it long before turning into a lizard," Mal said. "If anything, me turning her into a lizard would just eliminate any love she had toward me."

**Mal gave Fairy Godmother a small smile before returning the wand. "I believe this belongs to you."**

**Fairy Godmother took the wand before reaching down, causing the lizard-Maleficent to scurry away. "And I believe this," she said, picking up Ben's ring, "belongs to you."**

"You bet it does," Ben whispered, giving Mal a peck on the cheek.

**Mal slid the ring back on her hand as she and the Fairy Godmother stood up. "You all have earned yourselves an 'A' in Goodness class," Fairy Godmother told them, causing the four of them to laugh. The Fairy Godmother turned around and waved her wand over the room. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"**

**Ben unfroze with a roar, as did his father. Ben, though, continued to run before being stopped by Mal.**

"So, what exactly did you think you'd be able to do against my mother?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow and turning to Ben.

"Honestly, I don't know," Ben chuckled at the actions of his future self.

**"** **Okay, okay!" Mal told him. "Oh! We kind of got this all wrapped up here."**

**Belle straightened the glasses Maleficent had titled on Adam/Beast, before walking off with her husband. Ben grabbed Mal and spun her around, hugging her in celebration.**

"I dunno, I kind of like them tilted like that," Belle whispered to Adam/Beast.

**"** **Next time, I rescue you, okay?" Ben suggested.**

"How about there's not a next time?!" Someone shouted, with numerous murmurs of agreement.

**"** **Yeah, let's not there be a next time, okay?" Mal told him before giving him a hug and tilting his crown so that it was at an angle. Something in the corner caught Mal's eye as she told Ben "I will be right back."**

**"** **I love you," Fairy Godmother told Jane. "But you are on a major time out."**

"I think 'time out' might be a bit of an understatement," Poppy muttered. The younger girl did cause the hole in the barrier allowing Maleficent to escape and become a fire breathing dragon.

**"** **Don't be too hard on Jane," Mal said, resting a hand on Fairy Godmother's shoulder. "I was the one who put all that crazy stuff in her head."**

**Mal reached out and grabbed Jane's hand. "You are beautiful inside and out. Your mom got that right."**

"Thanks Mal," Jane gave the purple haired girl a smile.

**"** **I guess I did get pretty lucky in the mother department," Jane said.**

**"** **Yeah, I guess so," Mal agreed. Fairy Godmother led Jane off to the side as Audrey walked up to Mal.**

Aurora tensed, not knowing what would happen. While her daughter was clearly different than what was being presented on the screen, she didn't know how screen-Audrey would react.

**Mal curtseyed to Audrey, who curtseyed in response with a smile causing both girls to laugh.**

Aurora let out a sigh in relief, and then paused as she had noticed something odd on the screen.

"Is that my mother, smiling at Audrey being polite to an Isle kid?" Aurora faked a gasp, causing the Isle kids to burst out laughing and even Audrey gave a small chuckle at her mother's antics.

"Honestly," Leah sighed.

**An attendant with the bell jar lid caught Mal's eye as she exclaimed "Hey!"**

**The lizard-Maleficent made a noise that sounded like 'help' as Mal made her way to her. "Careful, that's my mom!"**

"You know what, that's a good idea," Evie nodded.

"Yeah, let's not piss off Maleficent more than we already have," Jay agreed.

**Everyone around her started to laugh as the attendant bowed and walked off. Mal joined her friends in the little huddle they were in.**

**"** **Let's get this party started!" Jay cheered.**

"Would we really still be in a mood to celebrate?" Melody asked. "I mean, no offense Mal, but giant dragon kinda kills any party vibes."

**"** **Ohayohay, hey!" The five of them cheered and threw their hands up into the air. Back on the Isle, Jafar, the Evil Queen and Cruella walked out to the balcony and saw the fireworks go off in Auradon. Back at the castle, all the kids are celebrating their new king.**

"And they didn't try to escape?!" Chad exclaimed.

"For once the idiot has a point," Mal sighed, looking at Jay and Evie. "Both your parents have experience with magic. Why didn't they pull the same stunt my mom did?"

"Didn't want to leave Cruella alone?" Evie suggested.

"Didn't trust the others on the Isle not to rob the shop?" Jay threw out there.

**Mal and Evie:**

**Oh, oh yeah!**

**Let's set it off**

**Oh yeah**

**You can make it happen**

"Ooh! I love your dresses!" Dizzy squealed.

"I'm pretty sure people on the Isle heard that," Hadie winced, rubbing his ear. "Also, when did you guys get changed?"

"It's probably just some modifications of our coronation dresses," Evie told him. "More importantly, that can't be the best way to carry the king into a party, can it?"

**Jay, Ben, Carlos:**

**Ohayohay, hey!**

**Ben:**

**Kings and queens**

**It's our time to rise**

**Write the book**

**The story of our lives**

**This is us**

**Taking back the night**

Lucy and Kitty burst out laughing at Chad's reaction to Ben ruffling his hair.

"I think Chad loves his hair more than he loves Audrey," Lucy giggled.

**All:**

**Ohayohay**

**Mal:**

**Break the spell**

**We were born this way**

**Be yourself**

"You know, I think we forget that part," Aladdin sighed.

"Well being ourselves is difficult when vipers like Leah exist," Eugene pointed out. "Speaking of which, we really need to bring Mal into the fold."

"I can bring it up with Belle," Rapunzel said. "Mal's dating Ben after all."

**Forget the DNA**

**Everybody**

**Raise your hands and say**

**All:**

**Ohayohay, hey!**

**Evie:**

**Sound the alarm**

**Get on your feet**

**Let's set it off**

**Rock this beat**

**Dance till your heart is wild and free**

"Nice job Doug!" Shelby cheered as her younger cousin danced with Evie.

"Why would she say that?" Doug asked, turning to Evie who shrugged but a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks.

**All:**

**Oooooooooh**

**Evie:**

**Feeling the power**

**Let it out all**

**Like what you see**

**In the mirror-shout!**

**We got the keys**

**The kingdom's ours!**

"Once upon a time, I'd feel a twinge of fear hearing that from an Isle kid," Jasmine whispered to Aladdin. "But they're really just kids like our son."

**All:**

**Oooooooh**

**Ohayohayo, hey!**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

**Start a chain reaction**

"I think Ben started the chain reaction by inviting you four here in the first place," Lonnie said with a smile. "Ben, I honestly think more kids need to come."

"Really?" Ben asked. "I thought you all hated the idea."

"Well at first we were skeptical," Kitty said with a shrug. "Not even going to lie, but that was just because you know, we didn't know them."

"Um, just going to throw out there that not all the kids are like us," Evie added.

"Yeah, if Shrimpy's here, I'm going back to the Isle," Mal said. "Uma and Harry Hook are two kids you do not want on this side of the barrier."

"Harry Hook?" Jane Darling gasped. "Captain Hook procreated?"

"This is a surprise to you?" Mal asked.

"Yes."

"Huh, well at least you're honest," Mal shrugged.

"Gil would be alright," Jay said.

"Only because he's too stupid to know how to follow Uma's orders," Mal scoffed. "The third son of Gaston makes me wonder how he survived the Isle for as long as he did."

**Never let it stop**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

**You can make it happen**

**With everything we got**

**Let's set it off**

**Vks: Get ready**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: We 'bout to!**

**All: Set it off!**

"Who was that dancing with you, Kitty?" Chad asked, looking at all the boys with a small glare.

"Someone without their head up their ass, probably," Kitty sniffed.

"He's not good enough for you, baby—"

"I'm two years younger than you. I hardly think that the title of 'baby sister' is necessary!" Kitty exclaimed.

**Jay and Carlos:**

**Yo!**

**It's time to set this thing off!**

**Let's make it happen now**

**I'm a make my own future**

**Ignore all the rumors**

**Show 'em how passion sounds**

**They all told me I should back down**

**Judging me cuz of my background**

**Thinking about changing my path now!**

**Nah, I ain't going out like that now!**

"Thank you," Jane said, giving Carlos a small smile. No one had ever danced with her before, and she figured that would remain the same considering her actions at the coronation.

"Don't mention it," Carlos told her, a small bit of pink staining his cheeks as Jay chuckled. Fairy Godmother made a mental note to still give both boys an A in goodness class, even if the mess at the coronation did not happen. They made Jane happy and that was all a mother could ask for.

**Audrey:**

**Feeling the power**

**Let it out all**

**Like what you see**

**In the mirror—shout!**

"Jay, you and Audrey?" Evie teased.

"He'd better not hurt her," Phillip Jr. glared, causing Audrey to roll her eyes.

"The 'brother' speech would be more intimidating from Ben, little brother."

**Ben:**

**We got the keys**

**The kingdom's ours!**

**All:**

**Ohayohayoh!**

**Mal and Evie:**

**Ooooh, yeah!**

"Nice block, Ben!" Carlos shouted, nudging Jay on the shoulder.

**All:**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

**Start a chain reaction**

**Never let it stop**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

**You can make it happen**

**With everything you got**

**Let's set it off!**

"So, um, when did you guys all learn this dance?" Aladdin asked.

"We can't answer that," Mal told him and Aladdin chuckled at his own stupidity.

"Fair enough. I forgot this hadn't happened yet."

**Vks: Get ready**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: We 'bout to!**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: Get ready**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: We 'bout to!**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: Get ready**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: We 'bout to!**

**All: Set it off!**

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Maggie and Paige exclaimed.

"Just kiss her!" Emma shouted, forgetting that Ben and Mal were sitting in that room, flushing in embarrassment.

**Mal and Evie: YEAH!**

**All:**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

"Oh I wish someone would look at me that way," Elle sighed as screen-Ben stared lovingly at Mal.

**Start a chain reaction**

**Never let it stop**

**Let's set it off—oh yeah**

"Oh Moira, you look beautiful," Merida said, smiling at her daughter as she danced in her yellow dress.

**You can make it happen**

**With everything you got**

Belle and Adam/Beast smiled as they saw their son's happiness with Mal. Clearly this was a relationship that needed to be protected.

**Let's set it off!**

**Vks: Get ready**

**All: Set it off!**

**Vks: We 'bout to!**

**All: Set it off!**

**DJ: What?**

**All: Start a chain reaction**

**As the music faded, Mal's voice could be heard. "Oh! I was having so much fun, I almost forgot. You didn't think this was the end of the story, did you?"**

"Are we going to see the rest of the story?" Hadie asked.

**Mal turned toward the screen, away from the party, and her eyes glowed a familiar green.**

The screen faded to black and the yellow glow around the edges faded. Everyone looked at each other.

"So what now?" Mal asked. No one had the chance to answer as they were all engulfed in the same bright light that brought them to the room before. The room faded, all proof it had existed gone from the world.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A *Totally* Original Watching the Movie Fic: Descendants Edition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29372955) by [IJUSTWANTTOCHANGEMYUSERNAME2020](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJUSTWANTTOCHANGEMYUSERNAME2020/pseuds/IJUSTWANTTOCHANGEMYUSERNAME2020)




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